Biobased alkyd/graphene oxide decorated with β–MnO2 nanorods as a robust ternary nanocomposite for surface coating

Durable graphene-based alkyd nanocomposites for surface coating applications

Recently, the scientific community's main goal is the long-term sustainability. Vegetable oils are easily accessible, non-depletable, and cost-effective materials. Vegetable oils are used to prepare polymeric alkyd surfaces. Novel and exciting designs of alkyd/graphene nanocomposites have provided eco-friendly thermal stability and protective coating surfaces. This review has briefly described important graphene-based alkyd nanocomposites along with their applications as protective coatings. These alkyd composites have high hydrophobicity, corrosion resistance, and durability. Graphene-based alkyd nanocoatings have many industrial and research interests because of their exceptional thermal and chemical properties. This work introduces an advanced horizon for developing protective nanocomposite coatings. The anti-corrosion properties and coatings' longevity may be improved by combining the synergistic effects of hybrid nanofillers introduced in this work.

Bioinspired Graphene Oxide-Magnetite Nanocomposite Coatings as Protective Superhydrophobic Antifouling Surfaces

Antifouling (AF) nanocoatings made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) are more cost-efficient and eco-friendly substitutes for the already outlawed tributyltin-based coatings. Here, a catalytic hydrosilation approach was used to construct a design inspired by composite mosquito eyes from non-toxic PDMS nanocomposites filled with graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets decorated with magnetite nanospheres (GO-Fe₃O₄ nanospheres). Various GO-Fe₃O₄ hybrid nanofillers were dispersed into the PDMS resin through a solution casting method to evaluate the structure-property relationship. A simple coprecipitation procedure was used to fabricate magnetite nanospheres with an average diameter of 30-50 nm, a single crystal structure, and a predominant (311) lattice plane. The uniform bioinspired superhydrophobic PDMS/GO-Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite surface produced had a micro-/nano-roughness, low surface-free energy (SFE), and high fouling release (FR) efficiency. It exhibited several advantages including simplicity, ease of large-area fabrication, and a simultaneous offering of dual micro-/nano-scale structures simply via a one-step solution casting process for a wide variety of materials. The superhydrophobicity, SFE, and rough topology have been studied as surface properties of the unfilled silicone and the bioinspired PDMS/GO-Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites. The coatings' physical, mechanical, and anticorrosive features were also taken into account. Several microorganisms were employed to examine the fouling resistance of the coated specimens for 1 month. Good dispersion of GO-Fe₃O₄ hybrid fillers in the PDMS coating until 1 wt % achieved the highest water contact angle (158° ± 2°), the lowest SFE (12.06 mN/m), micro-/nano-roughness, and improved bulk mechanical and anticorrosion properties. The well-distributed PDMS/GO-Fe₃O₄ (1 wt % nanofillers) bioinspired nanocoating showed the least biodegradability against all the tested microorganisms [Kocuria rhizophila (2.047%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1.961%), and Candida albicans (1.924%)]. We successfully developed non-toxic, low-cost, and economical nanostructured superhydrophobic FR composite coatings for long-term ship hull coatings. This study may expand the applications of bio-inspired functional materials because for multiple AF, durability and hydrophobicity are both important features in several industrial applications.