Study on preparation of magnesium-rich composite coating and performance enhancement by graft modification of epoxy resin

Abstract Magnesium (Mg)-rich primer is considered as a substitute for high polluted chromate treatment technology to provide cathodic protection for aluminum (Al) alloy. In this paper, Mg-rich primer with comprehensive properties was prepared by modifying epoxy resin using direct mixing. Specifically, the influence factors on the dispersion of Mg powder in epoxy, the modification of epoxy resin using organic silicones and the performance of Mg-modified epoxy composite coating were studied. The results show that Mg powder with small particle size has a better dispersion in epoxy; The mechanical property such as flexibility and impact resistance decreases with the addition of Mg powder, but which was improved when using modified epoxy as the resin matrix due to introduction of Si-O-Si flexible chain; In addition, the grafting efficiency between hydroxyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane and epoxy resin was improved because of the introduced silane coupling agent like KH550 contains amino group; The electrochemical test results indicate Mg-rich primer could provide effective electrochemical protection for Al alloy by raising the corrosion potential and reducing the corrosion current density to bare substrate,respectively.