For decades the zinc chromate and zinc phosphate pigments have been utilized as the most popular anti-corrosive pigments in the anti-corrosive organic coatings formulations. However, these pigments include heavy and toxic zinc and chrome metals, causing serious risks for the human health and ecosystem. Therefore, demands for finding less toxic and more environmentally friendly alternatives are extremely in progress in recent years.

In recent years, the carbon based nanomaterials, such as graphene and graphene oxide, have drawn significant attention of the researchers and scientist for making polymer composites with superior anti-corrosion properties. In this study a well crystalized single atom layered structure graphene oxide quantum dot (GOQD) with lateral dimension, ranging from 2 to 20 nm, was synthesized through a bottom-up” method by direct pyrolyzing of citric acid and then functionalized by polyaniline (PAni) through a rapid-mixture polymerization procedure. The morphology and chemistry of the GOQD-PAni were characterized through atomic force microscopy (AFM), high resolution-transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and photo-luminescent (PL) technique. The effect of GOQD-PAni on the corrosion protection properties of epoxy coating was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and salt spray test. Results confirmed that both barrier and inhibitive action of epoxy coating were significantly enhanced in the presence of GOQD-PAni. The fine GOQD-PAni well dispersed in the epoxy matrix, filled the pores and defects and blocked the diffusion pathways.

几十年来，铬酸锌和磷酸锌颜料已被用作防腐蚀有机涂料配方中最流行的防腐蚀颜料。然而，这些颜料包括重且有毒的锌和铬金属，对人类健康和生态系统造成严重风险。因此，近年来寻求寻找毒性更小和对环境更友好的替代品的要求非常迫切。

近年来，基于碳的纳米材料，例如石墨烯和氧化石墨烯，已经引起研究人员和科学家的极大关注，以制备具有优异抗腐蚀性能的聚合物复合材料。在这项研究中，通过柠檬酸的直接热解，通过“自下而上”的方法合成了横向尺寸为2至20 nm的结晶良好的单原子层状结构氧化石墨烯量子点（GOQD），然后通过聚苯胺（PAni ）通过快速混合聚合程序。通过原子力显微镜（AFM），高分辨率透射电子显微镜（HR-TEM），傅立叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR），X射线光电子能谱（XPS）表征了GOQD-PAni的形态和化学性质，X射线衍射分析（XRD）和光致发光（PL）技术。通过电化学阻抗谱和盐雾试验研究了GOQD-PAni对环氧涂层防腐性能的影响。结果证实，在存在GOQD-PAni的情况下，环氧涂层的阻隔和抑制作用均得到显着增强。优良的GOQD-PAni良好地分散在环氧基质中，填充了孔和缺陷，并阻止了扩散途径。