Role of Ordered Mesoporous Silica Loaded with Cerium and with an Amine‐Modified Surface as an Effective Binder and Nano‐container in Corrosion Resistant Hybrid Coating

Ordered mesoporous silica was synthesized through sol‐gel technique under hydrothermal conditions by using tetraethylorthosilicate. The template free material was obtained by calcination and the channels of ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) were successfully loaded with cerium (corrosion inhibitor). This cerium loaded material was modified with N1‐(3‐Trimethoxysilylpropyl)diethylenetriamine through grafting with surface hydroxyl group. Subsequently, the surface‐modified material was actively used as a curing agent, host for corrosion inhibitors and filler as well in epoxy‐based coatings for mild steel. The mesoporous silica material was characterized by using a combination of various analytic and spectroscopic techniques like FT‐IR, powder‐XRD, N2 sorption, solid state 29Si and 13C MAS NMR studies. The physicochemical, physicomechanical, and thermal properties of the hybrid film were analyzed through standard techniques like FT‐IR, TGA‐DTA, DMTA and FE‐SEM. The coated hybrid film on mild steel was tested for corrosion inhibition by using potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies. The aforementioned studies revealed the developed coating system exhibited promising corrosion protection performance which was evident from icorr (6.65 nA), Ecorr (−502.850 mV), impedance (1.2×106 Ω) and phase angle (>80°). The observed water contact angle (WCA)>90° suggesting the hydrophobic nature of the coated surface. Inorganic ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) was loaded with cerium and modified with tri‐aminosilane to make it a suitable nano‐container (for corrosion inhibiting agent like Ce) and binder for epoxy based hybrid coatings. Successful incorporation of Ce loaded and amine modified OMS in epoxy resin was achieved and utilized as corrosion resistant binder and filler in coating application. The formulated hybrid coating film showed promising corrosion protection performance which was evident from potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies with icorr (6.65nA), Ecorr (−502.850 mV), impedance (1.2×106 Ω) and phase angle (>80°).