Facile synthesis of phytic acid@attapulgite nanospheres for enhanced anti-corrosion performances of coatings

•A novel clay-organic hybrid material with nano-spheres assembly of ATP in PA was fabricated through a hydrothermal method.•The PA @ ATP nano-sphere particles can be directly used as additives in waterborne coating systems.•Water-based epoxy/PA @ ATP nanocomposite coatings have been exhibited excellent anti-corrosion properties. This paper presents the first phytic acid @ attapulgite (PA@ATP) nanospheres using natural rod-like ATP as the raw material through a convenient hydrothermal method. The morphologies of the nanocomposites were investigated by SEM and TEM, and the compositions and structures of synthesized products were characterized by FTIR, XPS, ICP-AES, EDX and XRD. When the nanospheres were blended with water-based epoxy resin, the as-obtained nanocomposite coatings exhibited excellent anti-corrosion properties.