Polydimethylsiloxane–graphene oxide nanocomposite coatings with improved anti-corrosion and anti-biofouling properties

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 28; no. 6; pp. 7404 - 7422
• Main Authors: Balakrishnan, Anandkumar, Jena, Geetisubhra, Pongachira George, Rani, Philip, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bacillus; Biofilms; Biofouling; Biofouling - prevention & control; Carbon steel; Carbon steels; Cell culture; Coatings; Corrosion; Corrosion prevention; Dimethylpolysiloxanes; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Electrochemistry; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Graphene; Graphite; High impedance; Microscopic analysis; Nanocomposites; Polydimethylsiloxane; Pseudomonas; Research Article; Silica; Silicon dioxide; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Microbiologically influenced corrosion; Confocal microscopy; Graphene oxide; Biofilms; Polydimethoxysiloxane
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-11068-5

We demonstrate enhanced anti-corrosion and anti-biofouling properties of graphene oxide–silica–polydimethylsiloxane (GSP) coating on carbon steel (CS). Electrochemical analyses of GSP-coated carbon steel exposed to Gram-positive Bacillus sp., Gram-negative Pseudomonas sp., and freshwater bacterial cultures for 72 h showed a 3–5 orders of magnitude reduction in i corr values and high impedance values (10 7  Ω) as compared with polished specimens. The corrosion protection efficiency of GSP-coated specimens was 99.9% against Bacillus sp. and freshwater culture and it was 89.6% against Pseudomonas sp. Evaluation of anti-biofouling property of GSP coating using microbiological and epifluorescence microscopic techniques showed three order reductions in total viable cells on GSP-coated specimens exposed to bacterial cultures. Confocal laser scanning microscopic analysis of biofilm architecture confirmed a significant reduction of biomass and biofilm thickness on GSP-coated CS demonstrating an excellent anti-biofouling activity of GSP.