Investigation of the mechanical, tribological and corrosive properties of epoxy composite coatings reinforced with recycled waste tire products

The present work aims at evaluating the mechanical and anti-corrosion behaviour of epoxy coatings modified by recycled waste tire products. In this study, the epoxy coatings reinforced with ground tire rubber (GTR), devulcanised ground tire rubber (DGTR), pyrolytic carbon black (PCB) and original carbon black (CB) particle contents were prepared and applied to the galvanised steel substrate. Micro-mechanical tests (nanohardness and microscratch) were used to measure the mechanical properties of the coatings. Tribological and corrosive performance of the coatings were evaluated using reciprocating ball-on disc test and salt spray corrosion test (5 wt% NaCl), respectively. The experimental results showed that the recycled waste tire products reinforced composite coatings significantly improved resistance to wear and corrosion inhibition property. In the study, the most remarkable results were the increase in wear resistance by 77.7% in the coating strengthened with DGTR. The highest corrosion resistance was obtained in the epoxy coating reinforced with PCB, no white rust was observed on the coating during the salt spray test (1000 hours), and the lowest blistering degree of the sample after the test was obtained as 8F.