Failure behaviour of an epoxy coating with polyaniline modified graphene oxide under marine alternating hydrostatic pressure

Polyaniline (PANI) was used to modify the graphene oxide (GO) by in-situ polymerization. The failure behaviour of epoxy resin-based GO-PANI coating under marine alternating hydrostatic pressure (AHP) was investigated. The results indicated that PANI modification improves the dispersion of GO sheets and reduces the formation of initial surface defects, both of which significantly increase the compactness and mechanical properties of the coating. The improvement of the pigments/binder interface retards the diffusion of electrolyte and the deterioration of coating structure caused by AHP. The excellent anti-permeability of coating not only depends on the improvement of compatibility between GO and binder, but also the superior toughness provided by GO-PANI nanosheets.