Volume 35, Issue 12 e70027
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Synthesis and Characterization of Eco-Friendly Epoxy Resins and Novel Fillers for Enhanced Corrosion Protection of Mild Steel

Himanshu A. Patil

Himanshu A. Patil

Department of Polymer and Surface Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India

Search for more papers by this author
Varad A. Maske

Varad A. Maske

Department of Polymer and Surface Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India

Search for more papers by this author
Aarti P. More

Corresponding Author

Aarti P. More

Department of Polymer and Surface Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India

Correspondence:

Aarti P. More ([email protected])

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 16 December 2024
Citations: 3

ABSTRACT

Epoxy resins are often used as protective coatings because of their exceptional adhesion, mechanical strength, chemical resistance, and anticorrosive properties. However, the use of bisphenol A (BPA)-based epoxies has been linked to environmental and health concerns. The objective of this study was to develop eco-friendly epoxy coatings for mild steel corrosion protection using bio-based resorcinol (RESO) and isosorbide (ISO), as well as the development of novel Zn-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) and Ce-bentonite fillers. The epoxy resins were synthesized by reacting resorcinol and isosorbide or their combinations with epichlorohydrin, with sodium hydroxide as a catalyst. Zn-Al LDH and Ce-bentonite were produced through co-precipitation and ion exchange techniques. Five eco-friendly epoxy formulations were synthesized by varying the concentrations of resorcinol and isosorbide. The plain epoxy coating and composite coatings, consisting of 3, 5, or 7 wt.% LDH/clay fillers were analyzed. FTIR was used to examine the resin's epoxide groups. 100% RESO epoxy demonstrated superior adhesion, hardness, chemical resistance, water absorption, and corrosion prevention compared with other epoxy-based coating formulations. When it comes to the mechanical properties of coatings, Zn-Al LDH-based coatings have better scratch hardness than Ce-Bentonite due to their layered structure, which enables robust interfacial contact with epoxy and better stress transfer. Salt spray tests revealed that resorcinol-based epoxy coatings with 5 wt.% filler exhibited outstanding corrosion resistance after 500 h. Therefore, this research offers bio-based epoxies and LDH/clay composites as an environmentally friendly, high-performance alternative to petroleum-based BPA epoxies for anticorrosion coatings.

Conflicts of Interest

There is no conflict of interest by any of the author to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.