Self-healing capability of inhibitor-encapsulating polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinylidene fluoride coaxial nanofibers loaded in epoxy resin coatings

The self-healing capability of epoxy coatings modified with coaxial core-shell nanofibers loaded with the corrosion inhibitor 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) was investigated using electrochemical techniques. The polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinylidene fluoride core-shell nanofibers were prepared by coaxial electrospinning. Electrochemical impedance results showed that the MBT-loaded coaxial nanofibers improved the barrier properties and decreased the corrosion activity of the coatings. Results of the Scanning Kelvin Probe technique revealed that the MBT-loaded coaxial nanofibers healed corrosion over artificial defects exposed to NaCl electrolytes. These results indicate that adding MBT-loaded coaxial nanofibers to epoxy coatings is a promising strategy toward the development of self-healing epoxy coatings.