RESUMO
To improve the corrosion inhibition of zinc-rich epoxy (ZRE) composite coatings and shed light on the influence of the spatial structure of graphene fillers on the coatings' performance, three-dimensional graphene (3DG) and a conventional graphene sheet (G) were used to modify the ZRE composite paint, respectively. The effect of introducing the 2D G fillers on the anti-corrosion behavior of ZRE was studied comprehensively, and its optimal content was determined to be 0.5 wt%. Interestingly, it was found that, comparing with 2D graphene sheets, the corrosion resistance of the ZRE coating could be enhanced more significantly with incorporating even less 3DG. With introducing only 0.1 wt% 3DG, the corrosion current intensity of the resulting 3DG/ZRE coating was reduced to be about 1/10 that of the G/ZRE coating with the same graphene content and 27% of that of the optimized G/ZRE. The corrosion products of the coating were analyzed with the XRD technique. The results indicated that, in contrast to neat ZRE coating, Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6 was absent from the corroded 3DG/ZRE coating, confirming its improved long-term anti-corrosion performance. The porous interconnected framework and high crystallinity of 3DG could contribute to not only its facilely mixing with epoxy resin, but also its effective incorporation into the conductive network of zinc micro-flakes, thus enhancing the corrosion resistance of its ZRE coating at a lower content. The innovative technology to improve the anti-corrosion performance of the ZRE coatings via using the 3D graphene fillers should be capable to be extended to other 2D fillers, such as MXenes.
RESUMO
Deteriorating concrete structures are repaired to restore their load-carrying capacity and enhance their appearance. As part of the repair procedure, the corroded reinforcing steel bars are cleaned by sandblasting, and a protective coating is applied to protect them from further corrosion. Generally, a zin-rich epoxy coating is used for this purpose. However, there have been concerns about the performance of this type of coating in protecting the steel due to the formation of galvanic corrosion, thus necessitating the need for developing a durable steel coating. In this study, the performance of two types of steel coatings, namely a zinc-rich epoxy and cement-based epoxy resin coating, was investigated. The performance of the selected coatings was evaluated by conducting both laboratory and field experiments. In the field studies, the concrete specimens were exposed to a marine exposure site for more than five years. The salt spray and accelerated reinforcement corrosion studies indicated that the performance of the cement-based epoxy coating was better than the zinc-rich epoxy coating. However, there was no visible difference between the performance of the investigated coatings in the reinforced concrete slab specimens placed in the field. It is suggested to use cement-based epoxy coatings as steel primers based on the field and laboratory data developed in this study.
RESUMO
Zinc rich epoxy (ZRE) coatings can provide sacrificial anode protection for metal substrate. Electrically conductive fillers can be added into ZRE coatings to create electroconductive network and improve the utilization of zinc particles. Inspired by the structure of reinforced concrete, in this work, carbon fibers with a length of 2 mm, 5 mm, and 10 mm were used as electrically conductive fillers to drive more zinc particle into electrically conductive paths and to provide coatings with better mechanical properties. Without agglomeration, ZRE-10 can achieve an efficient protection for copper substrate up to 50 days in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution, much longer than that of ZRE coating. Moreover, the fraction of water absorbed by ZRE-10 is 14%, which for ZRE is 20%, and the adhesion strength of ZRE-10 increased by 65% compared with that of ZRE. All tests in this work can prove a remarkably enhanced anticorrosion performance and mechanical properties of ZRE coatings achieved by addition of longer carbon fibers.