The preparation of cerium nitrate and attapulgite based superhydrophobic epoxy coatings for the corrosion protection of Q355 mild steel surface

The current research focus is to design a robust micro/nano-structured superhydrophobic epoxy coating to improve the wetting and anti-corrosion behavior of Q355 mild steel in harsh environment and obtain desired properties of self-healing and self-cleaning. Modified attapulgite (APT) and cerium nitrate based highperformance corrosion inhibitor ODA/PDA/APT-Ce3+ (OPA-Ce3+) coatings were synthesized by the addition of dopamine (DA) and octadecylamine (ODA) which resulted in excellent corrosion inhibition by enhancing the corrosion protection performance of metal alloy and improving the water contact angle of the synthesized epoxy based OPA-Ce3+ coating to more than 160 degrees. While wettability and corrosion protection were strongly associated with cerium nitrate and DA content, the surface microstructure of coated steel samples were relevant to attapulgite quantity. Moreover, the OPA-Ce3+ surface coating demonstrated good self-healing properties to counter chemical deterioration in harsh environment after being exposed for several hours to 3.5 wt% sodium chloride, acidic and alkaline solution. It was able to regain its superhydrophobic properties following hot air flow over the coating surface. The OPA-Ce3+ epoxy coatings displayed long-lasting and outstanding self-healing performance in terms of its wettability and electrochemical stability.