A magnetic “Band-Aid” incorporated with Fe3O4 NPs modified epoxy binder for in-situ repair of organic coating under seawater

To repair the anti-corrosive coatings directly under seawater is an up-and-coming approach, which can effectively prolong the service life of coated steel structures once the coatings suffered from unexpected scratches. Inspired by the design of Band-Aid for the healing of wound, a magnetic "Band-Aid" (MB) combined with oleic acid modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles (OMNPs) was designed to realize the in-situ repair of anti-corrosion coatings under seawater and the experimental results indicated that this coating repair method by MB incorporated with OMNPs modified epoxy binder is satisfying and effective when the addition of OMNPs epoxy binder was more than 1.0 wt%. Furthermore, the penetration of seawater in the vertical direction of the coating can be prevented by MB during the curing process of epoxy binder, the formation of permeation channels parallel to the coating can be blocked with the aid of OMNPs, which mainly based on the magnetic force between the MB and substrate steel, as well as the competitive-wetting and target-driving functions of OMNPs. The current work may provide a feasible approach to repair the organic anti-corrosion coating directly, which coated on the steel structures under seawater.