SBIR Phase I: An Approach to Pigments that Provide Corrosion Protection on-Demand

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目解决了在金属底漆中替代防腐铬酸盐颜料的重要问题。我们将在两种新的按需添加的颜料中模仿铬酸盐的特性，这两种颜料都添加到底漆中。然后，底漆将提供对钢、镀锌钢和铝合金等多种金属的耐腐蚀性，并保护涂层中因其缓释作用而产生的缺陷。一种颜料将由无机颗粒组成，其表面是阳离子交换剂。我们会给它贴上防腐阳离子。另一种颜料是一种无机颗粒，其表面是阴离子交换剂。我们会在它上面贴上防腐阴离子。当电解液进入涂层时，颜料会释放出各种离子，这些离子对铝和镀锌钢的腐蚀起到了有效的保护作用。当白水进入涂层时，颜料将保持休眠状态，即它们仅按需提供防腐保护。该项目将与辛辛那提大学合作实施，在那里将合成和测试更复杂的离子交换器。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是一种环保的新涂层技术。这种新材料也将是灵活的，因为我们可以根据特定的金属基材和底漆来定制这四种成分。因此，这项技术的潜在客户将不计其数。例如汽车行业(汽车修理厂和汽车制造厂的涂装线)、修理和修补的洗涤底漆、造船行业、航空航天行业(飞机涂层)、卷材涂层(钢)行业，以及许多其他行业。这些市场加在一起，代表着至少50亿美元的商业机会。这将对社会产生影响，油漆制造厂的工人将不再接触危险的含铬材料。该项目还将加强我们对涂层保护金属的机制以及防腐颜料如何在此类系统中发挥作用的科学理解。特别是，涂料的亲水性和颜料的水溶性之间的关系将在这个项目中阐明。某些缓蚀剂保护金属的机制是我们研究的另一个重点。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the important problem of replacing anti-corrosion chromate-based pigments in primers for metals. We will mimic the properties of chromate in two novel, on-demand pigments, both added to a primer. The primer will then provide corrosion resistance to several metals such as steel, galvanized steel and aluminum alloys and also protection of defects in the coating due to its slow-release effect. One pigment will consist of an inorganic particle whose surface is a cation exchanger. We will attach corrosion-inhibiting cations to it. The other pigment is an inorganic particle whose surface is an anion exchanger. We will attach corrosion-inhibiting anions to it. When an electrolyte enters the coating, the pigments will release various ions, which are effective in protecting corrosion of aluminum and galvanized steel. When plain water enters the coating, the pigments will remain dormant, i.e., they provide corrosion protection on-demand only. This project will be executed in collaboration with the University of Cincinnati, where more complex ion exchangers will be synthesized and tested.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is in a new coating technology that is environmentally friendly. The new material will also be flexible, in that we can tailor the four components to a particular metal substrate and primer. As a result, potential customers for this technology will be numerous. Examples are the automotive industry (for car repair finishes, and the painting line in automobile manufacturing plants), wash primers for repair and touch-up, the shipbuilding industry, the aerospace industry (coatings for aircraft), the coil coating (steel) industry, and many others. Combined, these markets represent a commercial opportunity of at least $5 billion. The societal impact will be that workers in paint-manufacturing plants will no longer be exposed to hazardous chromate-containing materials. This project will also enhance our scientific understanding of the mechanisms by which coatings protect metals and how anti-corrosion pigments work in such systems. In particular, the relationship between the hydrophilicity of the coating and the water-solubility of the pigment will be elucidated in this project. The mechanism by which certain inhibitors protect metals is another focus of our study.