Epoxy curing by polyaniline (PANI) - Characterization and self-healing evaluation

Polyaniline (PANI) was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline dissolved in aqueous phosphoric acid. The polymer was characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) techniques. Hardener free epoxy coating was formulated with 10% PANI. The curing process of epoxy resin by PANI was analyzed using FTIR and a suitable mechanism of curing was suggested. The corrosion protective performance of conventional polyamide cured epoxy and PANI cured epoxy coating on steel has been assessed in 3% NaCl by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The self-healing property of the PANI cured epoxy coating on steel in 3% NaCl was studied by scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET).