Zhibin Lin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
North Dakota State University

Dr. Zhibin Lin joined the NDSU at 2013. He received his Ph.D. degree at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2010. Dr. Lin’s research interests include nanoengineered coatings and materials, corrosion mitigation of pipelines, structural assessment and damage detection, advanced engineered material, and structural resilience. Currently he is working on several projects related to pipeline coatings and wireless sensor networks with UAV for infrastructural inspection.

Design and Characterization of Functional Nanoengineered Epoxy-Resin Coatings for Pipeline Corrosion Control
Metallic oil/gas pipelines face great challenges in corrosion control and mitigation. While there are varying corrosion-control techniques, protective surface coatings are the common approach to provide an effective barrier against environmental attacks. However, coatings with insufficient corrosion resistance or low damage tolerance often end up with premature coating degradation. In this study, two-dimensional graphene nanoplatelets were used as additives for synthesizing the new composite coatings. The new coatings were then characterized by different graphene contents. The test results revealed that the the nanoengineered coatings displayed considerably enhanced corrosion resistance, particularly for long-term barrier performance. The mechanical properties of the new coatings also demonstrated that the nanoparticles could dramatically improve the coatings in terms of enhanced abrasion resistance and tensile strength/failure strain. The microstructure of surfaces confirmed that the nanomodified coatings had a high damage tolerance that are suitable for practical applications.