Graphene and Glass Flake Nanocomposites Coatings for Corrosion Mitigation in Chloride Rich Environments
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Date
2018-08-02
Authors
Alhumade, Hesham
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
Inspired by the needs for the preparation of protective coatings with enhanced protection properties especially corrosion resistance in the oil and gas industry, the research focuses on the synthesis and the evaluation of various polymer composites on different metals substrates as protective coatings in Chloride rich environment. In various areas of application including oil and gas industry, metals substrates are continuously exposed to various deterioration factors including corrosion, impact, thermal and UV degradation. In addition, the rates of deterioration based on those factors can be further accelerated in certain environment. For example, the rate of metal deterioration due to corrosion can be accelerated in a Chloride rich environment causing significant reduction in the life span of metal substrates in different fields including oil and gas industry. For instance, in off shore oil and gas operation, drilling rigs are continently exposed to the Chloride rich ocean’s wave, which may accelerates the corrosion process on various metals based items of the rigs. Therefore, various corrosion mitigation techniques including the use of protective coatings are utilized to attenuate the corrosion rate and extend the life span of metal substrates. In particular areas, protective coatings can be exposed to various degradation factors including UV, Thermal degradations as well as deterioration due to impact. Therefore, it was important to evaluate other protection properties of the prepared protective coatings in addition to corrosion resistance. The studies focused on the incorporation of pristine Graphene and Glass Flake in different polymer resin such as Epoxy and Polyetherimide and evaluates the composites as protective coating on different metals substrates such as Copper, Stainless Steel 304 and Cold Rolled Steel. Furthermore, the studies investigated the possibility of enhancing the protective properties of the prepared protective composites coating by surface modification and functionalization of the filler in order to enhance the level of interaction between the polymer resin and the fillers. The synthesized composites are characterized using X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transfer infrared (FTIR) techniques, while the dispersion of the fillers in polymeric matrices are examined using Transition electron microscopy (TEM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The corrosion protection properties of the prepared protective composites coatings are examined using Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Cyclic voltammetry (CV) or potentiodynamic techniques. Furthermore, the interface adhesion between metal substrates and the protective coatings is examined and evaluated according to the ASTM-D3359 standard, while the impact resistance and the UV degradation properties are examined and evaluated according to the ASTM -D2794 and ASTM-D4587 standards, respectively. Moreover, the thermal degradation properties of the prepared protective coatings are evaluated by examining the rate of degradation or weight loss of the composites using Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) techniques and examining the influences of the incorporation of the various fillers in the glass transition temperature of the composites using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) technique. The studies reveal that the incorporation of the different types of fillers will enhance the corrosion resistance properties of the polymer resin in addition to other properties such as impact resistance, thermal stability and UV degradation. Furthermore, the studies conclude that the level of enhancement in corrosion protection as well as other protection properties can be further excelled by increasing the load of fillers in the composites. Moreover, it was interesting to observe that increasing the load of filler in the composites may negatively impact imperative properties such as interface adhesion, where increasing the load of fillers may attenuate the interface adhesion between the protective coatings and the coated metal substrates. A number of contributions have been reported in this research project including the preparation and the examination of nanocomposites materials as protective coatings on different metals substrates after the incorporation of different pristine nano-fillers such as Graphene and Glass Flake. The contributions also include the reporting for the first time of new and unique recipes that demonstrate simple steps for the surface fuctionalization of Graphene Oxide and Glass Flake before utilizing the functionalized fillers in the preparation of nanocomposites coatings with enhanced protective properties including corrosion resistance and thermal stability
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Keywords
Corrosion, Polymer, Nano-composites