Efficient,
environmentally friendly organic corrosion inhibitors
are being sought to alleviate the financial loss caused by corrosion
degradation of mild steel materials. Here, we show the synthesis and
characterization of monomeric ionic coumarate corrosion inhibitors
and their integration into polymeric acrylic UV coatings. For this
purpose, we investigated the effect of including the coumarate corrosion
inhibitors into the acrylic UV coating by three different means. The
corrosion inhibitors could be added as a standalone ionic liquid additive,
or they can be ionically attached or covalently attached to the acrylic
polymer network. To achieve this, two methacrylic monomers and one
nonpolymerizable ionic coumarate compound were synthesized. The anticorrosion
properties of the three coumarate compounds when added to a chloride
aqueous solution were investigated by various techniques. Next, the
three ionic coumarate compounds were integrated into an acrylic UV
polymer composition. Here, the UV coating, which shows the best anticorrosion
performance, was the one where the coumarate group is attached covalently
or ionically to the polymer. The UV coating, which included the coumarate
compound as a nonreactive additive, presented leaching problems from
the coating, limiting its anticorrosion effect. The work herein shows
that the development of polymeric corrosion inhibitors that combine
the barrier properties of the polymer coating and the anticorrosive
identity of the organic inhibitor is a powerful strategy to prevent
corrosion.