Corrosion protection of mild steel with nanofibrous polyaniline-based coatings

Polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers were successfully synthesized by a modified rapid mixing method, that is, by the rapid mixing of solutions of aniline and ammonium peroxydisulfate in either hydrochloric acid or filtrates of oxidative polymerization of aniline. Scanning electron microscopy examination showed that nanofibrous PANI products were achieved in all cases; this indicated that the initially presented excessive anions and cations had no evident effect on the formation of nanosized PANI. The nanofibrous PANI exhibited excellent dispersability in both water and organic solvents, and an ultraviolet–visible spectrum was successfully recorded by dispersion in cyclohexanone. Composite coatings were fabricated with the dispersions of nanofibrous PANI and solutions of epoxy. Greatly enhanced corrosion protection performances were demonstrated by the coatings loaded with a small quantity of nanofibrous PANI. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012