Investigation of surface morphology, anti-corrosive and abrasion resistance properties of nickel oxide epoxy nanocomposite (NiO-ENC) coating on mild steel substrate

• Nickel oxide (NiO) epoxy nanocomposites were prepared by dispersion method.
• Polymer nanoparticle interaction increased film barrier and abrasion resistance properties.
• More ordered structure observed at lower concentration of nano NiO inside epoxy.
• Increase in heat stability observed for nanocomposite compared to neat epoxy.

A series of epoxy (E) nickel oxide (NiO) nanocomposite materials has been successfully prepared by high speed dispersion of nickel oxide nanoparticles in diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) type of epoxy resin. The nanocomposite materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In order to understand the effect of different concentrations of NiO nanoparticles on the corrosion inhibition performance of the epoxy coatings, nickel oxide epoxy nanocomposite (NiO-ENC) coatings were investigated by salt spray resistance as per ASTM B-117 test method. The results showed that NiO-ENC coatings with 0.5% NiO nanoparticles on surface prepared mild steel were much superior in corrosion protection, with respect to the other samples. Incorporation of NiO nanoparticles inside the epoxy matrix showed significant increase in the abrasion resistance of the coating at specific concentrations when tested under different abrader wheels. These phenomena can be attributed to specific morphology of the nanocomposite and interaction of the NiO nanoparticles with epoxy matrix.

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