Effect of Si-Based Compound Nanoparticles on Anticorrosive Properties of Epoxy Resin

Abstract

Epoxy resin (EP) composites have been investigated in this study for improving chemical resistance and corrosion protection performance. Homogeneous EP coatings doped by 2 wt.% of respective Si3N4, SiO2 and SiC nanoparticles were successfully fabricated on stainless steel substrates. The microstructure of composites was characterized using FTIR spectra and field-emission scanning microscope. The effects of incorporating the Si-based compound nanoparticles on the surface characteristics and corrosion/resistance of coated steel were investigated by potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and water contact-angle. The EP composites have significant advantages over the EP, such as higher thermal stability, larger surface roughness and better barrier performance. Additionally, SiC modified EP exhibited optimized performance as it possessed the lowest corrosion current density (5.20 × 10−7 A/cm2) and the highest coating resistance R1 (9.405 × 106 Ω).