Inhibitors Incorporated Into Water-Based Epoxy Coatings on Metals for Corrosion Protection: A Review

Corrosion and its protection are one of the major challenges that are faced by the industries. To overcome this, new coatings with characteristic properties which are environmentally friendly are introduced. A cost-effective and most reliable way of corrosion protection is via barrier coatings, in which water-based epoxy coatings showed significant corrosion resistance. Although the epoxy coating creates a barrier between the metal and the corroding ions, there is a chance of leakage due to mechanical rupture and the formation of micropores during the curing time of the epoxy. This leads to the incorporation of inhibitors into the epoxy coatings which in turn increase the corrosion resistance. This review discusses the different types of inhibitors that are incorporated into the epoxy coating to prevent corrosion. The use of Nano/micro containers for the encapsulation of the inhibitors leads to the discovery of self-healing smart coatings. Such water-based epoxy smart coatings are also discussed.