A facile route of making silica nanoparticles covered graphene oxide nanohybrids (SiO2 GO) fabrication of SiO2 GO/epoxy composite coating with superior barrier and corrosion protection performance
Abstract This study reports two facile routes for the synthesis and characterization of silica nanoparticles decorated graphene oxide (SiO 2 GO) nanohybrids by a two step in situ sol gel process using a mixture of 3 Aminopropyl triethoxysilane and Tetraethylorthosilicate in water alcohol solution. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT IR) X ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were employed for the SiO 2 GO nanohybrids characterization. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were employed to characterize the SiO 2 nanoparticles precipitation on the surface of GO sheets. FT IR, XPS, AFM, FE SEM and TGA analyses revealed that fine nanometric SiO 2 particles 2 GO nanohybrids in the epoxy coating than pure GO. The effect of SiO 2 GO nanohybrids on the corrosion protection and barrier performance of the epoxy coating was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) Results revealed that SiO 2 GO nanohybrids significantly enhanced the barrier and corrosion protection properties of the epoxy coating. It was also shown that SiO 2 GO nanohybrids significantly reduced the cathodic delamination rate of epoxy coating.