Ultra-stable metal-organic framework-derived carbon nanocontainers with defect-induced pore enlargement for anti-corrosive epoxy coatings.

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks-8 (ZIF-8) have recently gained attention as nanocontainers for encapsulating corrosion inhibitors. However, two main challenges remain unsolved, casting doubt on their suitability as nanocontainers. The first challenge is their instability in acidic and basic environments, leading to structural decomposition and the second challenge is their mass diffusion limitation caused by micropore dominance and a small aperture size of 0.34-0.42 nm, limiting the efficient adsorption of corrosion inhibitors. To address both challenges, in this work, ZIF-8 nanostructures were transformed into nitrogen-doped ZIF-derived carbon-based nanocontainers (CZIF) via carbonization. This transformation not only stabilized the structure but also produced larger pore sizes (micro and mesopores), due to defects formed during carbonization. Benzotriazole (BTA) corrosion inhibitors were then encapsulated in CZIF structures to produce CZIF-BTA. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) demonstrated that the saline solution containing CZIF-BTA extract reduced the corrosion rate of steel by 50 % compared to a blank solution. The scratched epoxy (EP) coating containing 0.2 wt% of CZIF-BTA revealed an active inhibition performance with ∼100 % enhancement in the total resistance value compared to blank EP. Finally, the coating showed superior barrier properties with the impedance at the lowest frequency value of ∼2 × 1010 Ω cm2 after 71 days of immersion.