Facile self-assembly fabrication of anticorrosive imine-based composite material for excellent protective coatings

Designing suitable additive materials for high-performance anti-corrosion coatings continues to be a formidable obstacle. Although imine molecules are a promising family of organic compounds due to the π-conjugated aromatic structure containing N heteroatoms, their research as the anticorrosive additives is still in its early stages. Herein, we have prepared a rod-like imine molecule, Hexaazatrinaphthalene (HATN), which was further assembled with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to obtain a novel HATN/rGO composite via a facile electrostatic self-assembly. As such, the HATN/rGO composite as additive material was incorporated into epoxy resin to develop a corrosion-resistant HATN/rGO epoxy coating, showing exceptional passive and active anti-corrosion properties with a low corrosion rate of 5.75 × 10−6 mm a−1 and a high corrosion inhibition efficiency of 99.83 %. Remarkably, the resistance at 0.01 Hz value of HATN/rGO epoxy coating is superior to those of rGO-based epoxy coatings previously reported. Scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET) and salt spray measurements further demonstrate long-term performance of the HATN/rGO epoxy coating with excellent corrosion resistance. Additionally, theoretical calculation proves that the obvious electron transfer from rGO to HATN molecule promotes charge-transfer capability and electrochemical activity of the HATN/rGO composite, suggesting its great potential as the additive material for high-performance corrosion protection.