The synergistic effect of polyvinyl alcohol and graphene oxide on the corrosion resistance of waterborne coatings

In this study, a new type of environmentally friendly composite self-crosslinking water-based coating was systematically investigated. The results indicated that the smoothness and corrosion resistance were remarkably improved by graphene oxide (GO, used as corrosion-resistant material) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA, used to cure waterborne epoxy resin). Appropriate amount of glutaraldehyde (GA) as cross-linking agent improved the cross-linking reaction in the curing process. Furthermore, the surface morphology was improved by crosslinking polyethylene with GA, thus reduced the occurrence of defects. GO increased the complexity of the cross-linking of the coating, enhanced the binding force between molecules, which resulted in dense and complete coating structure. The corrosion resistance was significantly improved by inhibiting corrosive media. Therefore, the degree of curing and crosslinking of the PVA-cured GO composite waterborne epoxy resin coating was enhanced by utilizing appropriate amount of GA, leading to excellent flatness and corrosion resistance (self-corrosion voltage approached 0.41 V, self-corrosion current of 0.098 μA/cm−2 and protection efficiency of 99.99%).