SBIR Phase I: High-Performance Metal Pretreatments

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在开发一种不使用铬酸盐和磷酸盐的涂前处理产品，用于金属精加工行业。铬酸盐和磷酸盐仍广泛用于油漆前处理，但对环境不利。已经提出并实施了替代方案，例如，在线圈涂层行业，但此类系统不太坚固，需要更严格的加工条件控制。其他系统，如硅烷，在喷漆前需要干燥和固化。这种处理不能在阴极电泳漆下使用。本项目将开发一种预处理后2分钟内即可电镀的产品。其性能有望与铬酸盐或磷酸盐在一系列不同金属上的表现一样好。研究了硅烷与添加物之间的相互作用，以及膜的结构和性能。预期的结果将是一些环保的金属预处理，可以电镀。该项目的更广泛/商业影响将是在不损失性能的情况下消除油漆前处理中的铬酸盐和磷酸盐。潜在的应用将在汽车制造、航空航天、钢铁工业（线圈涂料）、消费电子、家电工业和许多其他行业中使用电镀涂料。一个重要的社会影响将是对工厂工人的更好保护，因为这个过程是无毒的，也不需要复杂的废物处理程序。该项目还将加强对预处理有助于保护金属的机制的科学理解。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a pre-paint treatment product without using chromates and phosphates for applications in metal-finishing industries. Chromates and phosphates are still widely used in pre-paint treatments, but are environmentally undesirable. Replacements have been proposed and implemented, e.g., in the coil coating industry, but such systems are less robust and require tighter control of processing conditions. Other systems, such as silanes, need to dry and cure prior to painting. Such treatments cannot be used under a cathodic electrocoated paint. In this project, a product that can be electrocoated within 2 minutes after the pretreatment will be developed. The performance is expected to be as well as chromates or phosphates on a range of different metals. The interactions between silanes and the additions, as well as the structure and properties of the films will be studied. The anticipated results will be a number of environmentally-compliant metal pretreatments that can be electrocoated. The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to eliminate chromates and phosphates in pre-paint treatments without the loss of performance. The potential applications will be in automotive manufacturing, aerospace, steel industry (coil coatings), consumer electronics, appliance industry and many other industries where electrocoating is used for painting. An important societal impact will be the better protection to workers in plants, as this process is not toxic and will not require elaborate waste disposal procedures. This project will also enhance the scientific understanding of the mechanisms by which pretreatments contribute to the protection of metals.