Dual-Responsive Polymer Conjugates with Enhanced Anticorrosion Performance

Active protection coatings have been developed to mitigate the corrosion of metallic substrates. Most of the current active coatings rely on the presence of responsive particles displaying the ability to encapsulate and release corrosion inhibitors. As for any composite material, a high concentration of particles can reduce the coating integrity. We prepare coatings with polymer-inhibitor conjugates, displaying acetal and immolative disulfide linkers that can release inhibitors upon corrosion of the substrates. On the contrary to previous conjugates, the release can be activated by not only a change in the pH value but also a change in the electrochemical potential. The anticorrosion performance of the dual-responsive polymer is higher than the corresponding single-responsive polymers.