Synthesis of poly(methylcarbazole) and its nanoclay and nanozinc composites and corrosion protection performances on stainless steel Type 304

Methylcarbazole (MCz) and its nanocomposites with Montmorillonite nanoclay and Zn nanoparticles were chemically synthesized on a stainless steel (SS304) electrode. The modified electrode was characterized by optical microscope, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated transmission reflectance (FTIR-ATR), four-point probe, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. The synthesized stainless steel/poly(methylcarbazole) (SS/P(MCz)), stainless steel/poly(methylcarbazole)/nanoclay (SS/P(MCz)/nanoclay), and stainless steel/poly(methylcarbazole)/nanoZn (SS/P(MCz)/nanoZn) were studied by potentio-dynamic polarization curves. The protective behavior of these coatings in 3.5% NaCl as the corrosion medium was investigated using Tafel polarization curves, as well as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The corrosion protection parameters were also supported by EIS and an equivalent circuit model of R-s(Q(c)(R-c(Q(p) R-ct))). The corrosion current of the SS/P(MCz)/nanoclay samples was found to be much lower (i(corr) = 0.010 mu A x cm(-2)) than that of SS/P(MCz)/nanoZn (i(corr) = 0.031 mu A x cm(-2)) and pure SS/P(MCz) samples. These results reveal that chemically synthesized SS/P(MCz), SS/P(MCz)/nanoclay, and SS/P(MCz)/nanoZn nanocomposite film coating have high corrosion protection efficiency (PE = 99.56%, 99.89%, and 99.67%, respectively). Thus, based on the study findings, we posit that nanoclay and Zn nanoparticles possess favorable barrier properties, which can be employed in order to achieve improvements in chemical corrosion protection through P(MCz) coating.