Styrene butadiene co-polymer based conducting polymer composite as an effective corrosion protective coating

Electroactive conducting polymer composite coatings of polyaniline (PANI) are electrosynthesized on styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) coated stainless steel electrode by potentiostatic method using aqueous H2SO4 as supporting electrolyte. The protective behaviour of these coatings in different corrosion media (3.5% NaCl and 0.5 M HCl) is investigated using Tafel polarization curves, open circuit potential measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results reveal that SBR/PANI composite coating is much better in corrosion protection than simple PANI coating. The corrosion potential of composite films shifts to more noble values indicating that SBR/PANI composite coating act as an effective corrosion protective layer.

► Styrene butadiene rubber/polyaniline composite is prepared by electrochemical method.
► The anticorrosion efficiency of composite is studied by Tafel polarization curves.
► The corrosion behaviour of composite coated steel is studied by OCP measurements.
► The composite shows better corrosion prevention than pure polyaniline coatings.
► The anticorrosion efficiency of composite is better in neutral media than in acidic.