Herein, we report the development of a self-sensing and active corrosion protection coating which incorporates pH-sensitive multilayer chitosan/alginate-covered CaCO₃ microcontainers containing 1,10-phenanthrolin-5-amine (APhen). The microcontainers can respond to pH variation to release APhen which serves not only as a corrosion indicator but also as an inhibitor. An epoxy coating doped with 5 wt% microcontainers exhibited improved corrosion performance and was capable of inhibiting corrosion spreading from the damaged area in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. The salt spray test showed that corrosion damage can be quickly detected by the appearance of a red color within 2 min.

This work introduces a novel nanocomposite coating with dual-action self-healing corrosion protection activated by the photothermal response of plasmonic titanium nitride nanoparticles (TiN NPs). TiN@mesoporous SiO₂ core–shell nanocontainers were developed as reservoirs for benzotriazole (BTA) corrosion inhibitors and incorporated into the shape memory epoxy coating matrix. Under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, the thermogenesis effect of TiN could not only promote the release of corrosion inhibitors from nanocontainers into the crevice, but also trigger the shape memory effect of damaged epoxy to merge the coating scratch. As such, the dual-action self-healing mechanisms combining the formation of an inhibitor-based protective layer and the scratch closure efficiently suppressed the corrosion process at the exposed metal surface. Surface characterization and electrochemical measurement results proved that the nanocomposite coating incorporated with 2 wt% of TiN-BTA@SiO₂ exhibited the optimal corrosion protection as well as an excellent self-healing performance that can be initiated within 30 s of NIR illumination. This photo-controlled self-healing approach is potentially useful in designing next-generation self-healing coatings with ultrafast response time and high healing efficiency.

In this study, a new self-healing shape memory polymer (SMP) coating was prepared to protect the aluminum alloy 2024-T3 from corrosion by the incorporation of dual-function microspheres containing polycaprolactone and the corrosion inhibitor 8-hydroxyquinoline (8HQ). The self-healing properties of the coatings were investigated via scanning electron microscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and scanning electrochemical microscopy following the application of different healing conditions. The results demonstrated that the coating possessed a triple-Action self-healing ability enabled by the cooperation of the 8HQ inhibitor, the SMP coating matrix, and the melted microspheres. The coating released 8HQ in a pH-dependent fashion and immediately suppressed corrosion within the coating scratch. After heat treatment, the scratched coating exhibited excellent recovery of its anticorrosion performance, which was attributed to the simultaneous initiation of scratch closure by the shape memory effect of the coating matrix, sealing of the scratch by the melted microspheres, and the synergistic effect of corrosion inhibition by 8HQ.