Key Takeaways & Executive Findings
- •• Polymer nanocomposite coatings (PNCCs) offer multifunctional properties including corrosion protection, mechanical resistance, antimicrobial activity, chemical durability, electrical insulation, and UV aging resistance, making them highly valuable across industries. • The review systematically covers the chemistry and applications of major PNCC systems, particularly epoxy and polyurethane, highlighting the role of inorganic nanofillers such as ZnO, TiO2, CNTs, graphene, and others. • The author's own contributions to developing innovative functional polymer nanocomposites are presented, emphasizing economic and industrial impacts and future directions. • The paper provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances and applications of PNCCs, serving as a key reference for researchers and engineers in materials science and coating technology.
Abstract
Polymer nanocomposite coatings (PNCCs) are unprecedented generation of coatings engineered for displaying inexpensive and brilliant functional surface coatings with eminent corrosion guard, mechanical resistance, antimicrobial, chemical durability, electrical insulation, and UV aging features. Due to their widely anticipation in petroleum, applications in building, conveyance, aerospace, electronics, automobiles and energy, these multi-functional coatings have a tremendous leverage in human life, all technological and scientific subjects. Numerous applications have been made for multilateral polymers like polyurethane (PU), epoxy (EP), polyaniline (PANI) conductive polymer, polypyrrole (PPy), and etc, on various metallic surfaces especially, carbon steel substrate owing to their excellent resistance properties. Practically, nanomaterials can possess potential in the all-interdisciplinary domains of materials science and engineering, chemical and physical sciences, biological and health sciences. As known, the designed polymer nanocomposite coating paradigm is fundamentally constituted from polymer or resin as a vehicle and inorganic nanofillers (nanoparticles and nanocomposites). Some commercialized and excessively employed nanocontainers in polymer nanocomposite coating formulations, like ZnO, TiO2, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), clay, SiO2, Al2O3, graphene, GO, CeO2, ZrO2, FeTiO3, etc were discussed. The current review covered the chemistry and potential applications of the largest utilized multifunctional polymer nanocomposite coatings such as EP, PU and other considerable PNCCs. Lately, a titanic attention was made for epoxy nanocomposites because of their distinct physicochemical characteristics, which result from the combined qualities of the nanoparticles and polymer material unity. In addition, the author incorporated some of his scientific contributions in this area represented in construction of innovative functional polymer nanocomposites for a variety of uses with high economic, industrial impacts and future orientation. Furthermore, some newly published applications of polymer nanocomposite coatings were incorporated and discussed.
1. Introduction
Nanocomposites are the heterogeneous multiphase solid materials where one of the phases has nanoscale structures like nanorods, nanospheres, nanotubes, or nanoflower [1, 2]. Nanocomposites can be constructed by adding one substance into other by different ways as sol-gel process, mixing of melt and solution, in-situ polymerization, precipitation methods, and electrospinning resulting in new characteristic materials with superior properties against the individual substances [3, 4]. These superb characteristics include corrosion prevention, stiffness, wear resistance, damaged structures repair, chemical stability, and etc [4].
A nanocomposite coating is a substance constructed from at least two immiscible phases, in which one phase must contain at least one dimensional nanoscaled-material and the other main phase is the dispersing material [5]. Based on the structure of nanocontainers and matrix as dispersing polymer or resin, nanocomposite coatings (NCC) were classified into several categories. Firstly, based on the type of nanostructured materials (nanofillers), NCCs containing 0D: the filler is with three nano-scaled dimensions such as nanoparticles; 1D: the filler is with two nano-scaled dimensions such as nanotubes or whiskers; and 2D: the filler is with one nano-scaled dimension such as nanolayers [5]. Furthermore, based on the organic and inorganic dispersing matrix, NCCs are divided into different frameworks such as inorganic/organic (I/O), organic/inorganic (O/I), organic/organic (O/O), and inorganic/inorganic (I/I). Examples on organic matrices are mostly polymers like epoxy resin [6], polyurethane [7], polyamide [8], polyacrylate [9], polyethylene glycol (PEG) [10], polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) [11], polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [12], polyester [13], polycarbonate [14], etc. are variably employed. Organic matrix containing natural polymers like starch, gluten, chitosan (CS), and vegetable oils were also reported [15]. Pine needles, a natural fiber were also used in the making of nanocomposite coats [16]. Another examples on inorganic matrices are like metal carbides (WC-Co) [17], metal oxides (SiO2, Fe2O3) [18], clay [19], carbon nanotube (CNT) [20].
Coating layer can provide a protective barrier for impeding the permeation of corrosive species including H2O, O2, or ions. Most of polymer molecules consist of methylene group (CH2) repeated units which display excelle
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A.M. FADL (2026). Chemistry and potential applications of multifunctional polymer nanocomposite coatings: A review. Journal of Central South University. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-025-6102-4
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are polymer nanocomposite coatings (PNCCs)?
Polymer nanocomposite coatings are advanced coating systems composed of a polymer matrix and inorganic nanofillers, engineered to provide multifunctional properties such as corrosion protection, mechanical resistance, antimicrobial activity, chemical durability, electrical insulation, and UV aging resistance.
What are the main types of nanofillers used in PNCCs?
Common nanofillers include zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide (TiO2), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), clay, silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3), graphene, graphene oxide (GO), cerium oxide (CeO2), zirconium oxide (ZrO2), and iron titanate (FeTiO3).
Which polymers are commonly used as matrices in PNCCs?
Epoxy (EP) and polyurethane (PU) are the most widely used polymers, along with others like polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPy), polyamide, polyacrylate, and natural polymers such as chitosan.
What are the key applications of PNCCs?
PNCCs are used in petroleum, building, transportation, aerospace, electronics, automotive, and energy sectors, primarily for corrosion protection, mechanical reinforcement, antimicrobial surfaces, and UV resistance.
What is the significance of this review?
This review provides a comprehensive overview of the chemistry and potential applications of multifunctional polymer nanocomposite coatings, highlighting recent advances, the author's contributions, and future directions, making it a valuable resource for researchers and engineers.
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