Corrosion self-warning and repair tracking of polymeric coatings based on stimulus responsive nanosensors

Smart polymeric coatings with early corrosion self-warning and damage self-repairing characteristics have garnered tremendous interest due to their ability to sense corrosion reactions and repair coating defects. However, tracking the repair process and its underlying protection mechanism is highly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanoscale 2022-06, Vol.14 (23), p.8429-844
Main Authors: Liu, Cheng-bao, Cheng, Li, Qian, Bei, Cui, Lan-yue, Zeng, Rong-chang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Color
Corrosion
Corrosion effects
Crack closure
Damage localization
Ferrous ions
Graphene
Imidazole
Light irradiation
Nanosensors
Polymer coatings
Polyurethane resins
Repair
Tracking
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Summary:Smart polymeric coatings with early corrosion self-warning and damage self-repairing characteristics have garnered tremendous interest due to their ability to sense corrosion reactions and repair coating defects. However, tracking the repair process and its underlying protection mechanism is highly challenging. Herein, we report the construction of a novel composite coating by incorporating multifunctional nanosensors (graphene oxide-zeolitic imidazole frameworks loaded with 1,10-phenanthroline) into a thermo-responsive polyurethane. Under damaging events, the localized acidity derived from metal corrosion stimulates the decomposition of the nanosensors to produce 1,10-phenanthroline and benzimidazole. The generated ferrous ions are rapidly sensed by the released 1,10-phenanthroline to produce a conspicuous red color, which warns of the corrosion occurrence. In profiting from the photothermal effect of graphene oxide, the composite coating exhibits efficient crack closure behavior under near-infrared light irradiation. Morphology observation indicates that a coating scratch (about 30 μm wide) almost closed with 20 s of irradiation. The photothermally activated crack closure combined with benzimidazole inhibition endows the prepared coating with superior self-repairing performance. Interestingly, the change in color intensity around the coating defect can assist in tracking the repair process. Therefore, this work provides a novel strategy to visualize microscopic behaviors during damage and repair processes. A smart nanocomposite coating with accurate self-repairing and corrosion self-warning capabilities has been constructed with the aim of tracking damage occurrences and repair processes by visible signals.
ISSN:2040-3364
2040-3372
DOI:10.1039/d2nr01406h