Green porous attapulgite containers enhance the corrosion protection of smart coating

Porous attapulgite (ATP) was employed as green container for storing corrosion inhibitors that can enhance both the corrosion inhibition and self-healing properties of organic coatings. The key to realizing ATP containers in smart corrosion resistance is clarifying the influence of ATP's surface charge on inhibitor loading capacity and the degradation behavior of ATP in active corrosion protection, but this aspect is often overlooked. Herein, an effective enhance the physical barrier and active corrosion resistance of the polyvinyl butyne vinyl acetate (PVB) coating by developing ATP containers was proposed. The results indicated that with the incorporation of 0.5 wt% Acid-etched ATP or BTA@ATP, the |Z| 0.01Hz of composite coatings on zinc substrate enhance six times (4.8 × 10 4  Ω cm 2 ) and sixteen times (1.2 × 10 5  Ω cm 2 ) than the pure PVB coating (7.8 × 10 3  Ω cm 2 ), respectively. The corrosion protection mechanism contributes to the filling of cracks with ATP nanocontainers to provide barrier protection, the release of corrosion inhibitors to passivate the damaged areas, as well as the degradation of the ATP itself to form a silicate layer to inhibit the progression of corrosion. Hence, the strategy of ATP nanocontainer preparation will facilitate the high-value utilization of attapulgite and potentially provide guidance for researchers in designing micro/nano-containers.