Epoxy resin/2-imidazole coated carbonyl iron powder: Synthesis, structure and corrosion performance

Magnetic metal absorbers are susceptible to strong corrosion in acid, alkali and salt fog environments, resulting in strong limitations of their applications. Therefore, it is urgent to develop magnetic absorber with enhanced anti-corrosion and microwave absorption. In this paper, carbonyl iron powder (CIP) coated with 2-methylimidazole/epoxy (2-MI/EP) composites were prepared by in-situ polymerization. The CIP@2-MI/EP composites showed better microwave absorption performance with a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value of −54.11 dB at 9.69 GHz with 2 mm thickness. The electrochemical test results show that the corrosion current density of the composites decreases by two orders of magnitude and the corrosion potential is positively shifted to −0.1. In addition, the presence of 2-MI/EP layer can enhance the oxidation resistance of this composite. Considering the corrosion resistance, electromagnetic properties and oxidation resistance of this composite material, it provides an opportunity for valuable addition at commercial level.