Exploring the Barrier Property of High-Performance Polyurethane-Silica-Lignin Coatings on Carbon Steel
Authors: Braz Alvaro Guimarães , Harb Samarah Vargas , Trentin Andressa , Pulcinelli Sandra Helena , Santilli Celso Valentim 
Published: August 2024

The use of lignin in anticorrosive coatings has provided efficient corrosion protection to metallic alloys.1,2 We have combined lignin-based polyurethane (PU) with silica to produce eco-friendly anticorrosive coatings with high anticorrosive performance, mechanical strength and bactericidal action.3 The PU was synthesized from methyl diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), glycerol and lignin; the PU pre-polymer was functionalized with APTES to later form a hybrid with the polysilanol network from TEOS. The reference coating4 was prepared using 100% glycerol (PU-Si-0Lig) as the polyol source, while the other two specimens contain glycerol and 0.2 g (Pu-Si-0.2Lig) or 0.4 g (Pu-Si-0.4Lig) of lignin, keeping the predetermined proportion NCO:OH = 1.16. The incorporation of lignin into the polymer matrix led to an increase in the thermal stability (295 to 304 °C), smoothness of the coating surface (4.3 to 1.7 nm) and improvement of the coating mechanical properties, such as coating hardness (362 to 376 MPa). In addition, the lignin-containing coatings present bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli. The corrosion protection of the PU-Si-Lignin hybrid coatings deposited on carbon steel was analyzed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 3.5 wt.% NaCl at room temperature. The tests were conducted in a three-electrode cell, consisting of the coated carbon steel substrate as the working electrode, a platinum mesh as a counter electrode, and an Ag|AgCl|KClsat as the reference electrode. PU-Si-0Lig and PU-Si-0.2Lig present fair corrosion protection with low-frequency impedance |Zlf| values around 106 Ω.cm2 after immersion for up to 14 days. Conversely, PU-Si-0.4Lig presents |Zlf| ~ 1010 Ω.cm2, phase angle near -90 ° over seven frequency decades, and a lifespan of 100 days immersed in seawater. The equivalent electric circuit (EEC) used to fit the PU-Si-0.4Lig revealed that the EIS data of the initial 14 days can be represented by a model containing only one time constant. This means the coating has a highly capacitive behavior with insignificant water uptake in the first two weeks. Altogether, these results demonstrated the potential of PU-Si-Lig coating to be applied as an efficient anticorrosive barrier with enhanced mechanical and antibacterial properties.

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Brazilian funding agencies CNPq, FAPESP, CAPES and PROPe UNESP.

Keywords: Renewable feedstock, green coating, PU-silica, lignin, corrosion protection.

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