In this work, a ternary TiO2/Graphene oxide/Polyaniline (TiO2/GO/PANI) nanocomposite was synthesized by in situ oxidation and use as a filler on epoxy resin (TiO2/GO/PANI/EP), a bifunctional in situ protective coating has been developed and reinforced the Q235 carbon steel protection against corrosion. The structure and optical properties of the obtained composites are characterized by XRD, FTIR, and UV-vis. Compared to bare TiO2 and bare Q235, the TiO2/GO/PANI/EP coating exhibited prominent photoelectrochemical properties, such as the photocurrent density increased 0.06 A/cm2 and the corrosion potential shifted from -651 mV to -851 mV, respectively. The results show that the TiO2/GO/PANI nanocomposite has an extended light absorption range and the effective separation of electron-hole pairs improves the photoelectrochemical performance, and also provides cathodic protection to Q235 steel under dark conditions. The TiO2/GO/PANI/EP coating can isolate the Q235 steel from the external corrosive environment, and may generally be regarded a useful protective barrier coating to metallic materials. When the TiO2/GO/PANI composite is dispersed in the EP, the compactness of the coating is improved and the protective barrier effect is enhanced.
Keywords: TiO2/GO/PANI nanocomposite; barrier protection; epoxy resin; photocathode protection.