Evaluation of anti-corrosion performance of modified gelatin-graphene oxide nanocomposite dispersed in epoxy coating on mild steel in saline media

The primary objective of the present study is to develop an effective bio-based corrosion-resistant coating on mild steel using gelatin. In this study, the corrosion protection performance of epoxy coating incorporated with modified gelatin (MGel) and MGel-graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites on mild steel has been investigated. The synthesized MGel and MGel-GO were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The surfaces of coated samples (MGel-EP and MGel/GO-EP) were analyzed by Contact Angle technique, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization techniques were employed to assess the corrosion protection performance of the different EP coatings. Results revealed the better protection performance of MGel/GO-EP coatings than MGel-EP and pure EP coatings. Well dispersed GO increases the compactness and cross-linking degree of coating and thus enhances the protection efficiency of MGel/GO-EP coating by 59% than pure EP coating. The present study set forth an innovative application of the readily available and affordable gelatin in the field of corrosion.