Advanced environmentally friendly coatings prepared from amine-capped aniline trimer-based waterborne electroactive polyurethane

Electroactive waterborne polyurethane (EWPU) containing conjugated segments of electroactive amino-capped aniline trimer (ACAT) unit was successfully prepared and characterized. Iodine-doped EWPU with conductivity 1.2 × 10−6 S cm−1 was detected. The electroactivity of EWPU was evaluated by performing electrochemical cyclic voltammetry studies. It was worth noting that the EWPU coating was found to exhibit enhanced corrosion protection effects on cold-rolled steel (CRS) electrodes as compared to the corresponding non-electroactive waterborne polyurethane (NEWPU) coating based on a series of electrochemical measurements in 3.5 wt% NaCl electrolyte. A possible mechanism for the enhanced corrosion protection ability of the EWPU coatings on the CRS electrode could be interpreted as the redox catalytic capabilities of the aniline trimer units existed in EWPU induce the formation of passive metal oxide layers on the CRS electrode, as further evidenced by SEM and XPS studies. The thermal stability of EWPU was also investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).