Recently, the green synthesis of iron nanoparticles and associated hybrids using plant extracts has attracted much attention due to its low cost, simplicity and environmental friendliness . However, the exact formation mechanism is still unclear. In this study, the one step green synthesis of hybrid rGO/Fe NPs by a tea extract was examined using a response surface methodology (RSM) to obtain a high activity of rGO/Fe NPs. The results showed that the best conditions for synthesis were an extract concentration = 35 g/L, pH = 7, and temperature = 30 °C. The optimized hybrid produced could remove 99.9% of mitoxantrone (MTX) compared to only 78.9% when unoptimized. To better understand the formation process, characterizations by SEM , TEM, AFM , FTIR, XRD , Raman, and XPS were performed. Theses characterizations showed that the Fe NPs produced had a particle size of 25 nm which were deposited randomly across the rGO nanosheet with a thickness of approximately 1.5 nm, indicating that stable hybrid rGO/Fe NPs were successfully synthesized, where the green tea extract exhibited both reducing and capping/stabilizing behavior. Furthermore, the specific biomolecules in the green tea extract responsible for bio-reduction and stabilization were identified by GC-MS and LC-MS, which showed that catechins were the main reducing agents, while alkaloids, amino acids and phenolic acids were the main capping/stabilizing agents. Finally, a mechanism for synthesizing rGO/Fe NPs was proposed, where the polyphenols successfully reduced GO and complexed with iron ions to form amorphous ferric (and ferrous) polyphenol complex nanoparticles.
In this study, a UV-curable anti-smudge cathodic electrophoretic coating was developed by free radical copolymerization of various acrylic monomers using heptadecafluorodecyl acrylate (FOEA) as a functional monomer to provide a low surface energy structure to the acrylate precursor. The precursor was then grafted with the synthetic double-bond terminated IPDI-HEA on the precursor, and finally dipentaerythritol penta/hexaacrylate (5-Acl) was introduced as a crosslinker for the subsequent cathodic electrophoresis and UV-curing process. The chemical structure and surface fluorine content of the fluorinated waterborne polyacrylate (FWPA) were confirmed by 1 H NMR, FT-IR, and XPS , respectively. The surface morphology and roughness of the coating were assessed using SEM and AFM instruments. The contact and sliding angles of water, diiodomethane, and hexadecane were determined. The self-cleaning capability was demonstrated by measuring the oil-based and aqueous epoxy paints, as well as carbon powder sliding on the coated tinplate surface. The anti-graffiti property was also integrated with a red marker. The resistance to strong acid, salt spray, impact, friction, and bending were characterized. All these results showed remarkable self-cleaning and anti-graffiti capabilities of the as-prepared UV-curable electrophoretic coating. Meanwhile, the coating displayed exceptional robustness in resisting chemical corrosion and mechanical damage. This newly developed UV-curable anti-smudge cathodic electrophoretic coating has great application potential in various metal protection industries.