SBIR Phase I: Smart, sustainable and self-healing anticorrosive pigment additive

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发智能、自修复纳米胶囊作为防腐颜料添加剂，用于可持续、经济、无金属的丙烯酸、环氧或聚氨酯基防腐涂料的商业化。纳米胶囊添加剂基防腐涂料将达到并超越溶剂型和重金属基防腐涂料的性能，并通过向市场提供可持续和高效的防腐涂料技术，颠覆当前的技术范式。仅在美国，修复或更换腐蚀结构的成本就高达每年5000亿美元，这是由于使用重金属（如铬、锌和铅）作为防腐颜料对环境的有毒影响而加剧的。该项目将直接解决这两个重要的未满足的行业需求。例如，该技术将取代重金属，并在需要的时间和地点提供防腐保护。这将增加涂层的使用寿命，降低维护成本，并减少能源和人工成本。这项新技术简单、可扩展，将在建筑、石油和天然气、建筑、国防、航空航天等多个行业中得到应用。该项目的智力优势在于开发智能、自修复、聚合物基纳米胶囊作为防腐涂料的颜料添加剂。腐蚀是一种电化学过程，是由环境中的腐蚀离子引起的。腐蚀开始时，腐蚀部位的电化学电位发生变化。因此，在这个项目中，聚合物基纳米胶囊将被开发出来，它将通过多种机制抑制腐蚀。纳米胶囊本身将通过充当金属和有毒离子之间的离子屏障以及阳极钝化来防止腐蚀。如果钝化或屏障作用因划伤或机械损伤而失效，金属开始腐蚀，则腐蚀金属表面电化学电位的变化将激活纳米胶囊，在腐蚀部位释放包裹在胶囊中的缓蚀剂。这个第一阶段的项目将开发一种方法来合成包裹有缓蚀剂的智能、自修复纳米胶囊。这些纳米胶囊将为市场提供下一代水性、丙烯酸、环氧或聚氨酯防腐涂料。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will result in the development of smart, self-healing nanocapsules as anticorrosive pigment additive for commercialization of sustainable, economical and metal free acrylic, epoxy or polyurethane based anticorrosive coatings. The nanocapsule additive based anticorrosive coating will meet and exceed the performance of solvent and heavy metals based coatings and disrupt the current technology paradigms by delivering a sustainable and efficient anticorrosive coating technology into the market. The cost to fix or replace corroded structures in the US alone is a staggering $500 Billions/year that is compounded by the toxic environmental impact on account of the use of heavy metals such as, chromium, zinc and lead as anticorrosion pigments. This project will directly address these two important unmet industry needs. For example, the technology will replace heavy metals and deliver corrosion protection exactly when and where it is needed. This will increase the life-time of the coatings, decrease maintenance costs, and reduce the energy and labor costs. This novel technology is simple, scalable, and will find application across multiple industry sectors such as construction, oil & gas, architecture, defense, aerospace etc. The intellectual merit of this project is the development of smart, self-healing, polymer based nanocapsules as pigment additives in anticorrosive coatings. Corrosion is an electrochemical process and is induced by corrosive ions in the environment. At the onset of corrosion, the electrochemical potential at the corroding site changes. Hence, in this project polymer based nanocapsules will be developed that will inhibit corrosion by multiple mechanisms. The nanocapsules themselves will prevent corrosion by acting as ionic barrier between metal and toxic ions as well as by anodic passivation. If the passivation or the barrier effect fails due to scratch or mechanical damage and the metal starts to corrode, the change in electrochemical potential on the corroding metal surface will activate the nanocapsules to release corrosion inhibitors encapsulated in the capsules at the corroding site. This phase I project will develop a method to synthesize smart, self-healing nanocapsules encapsulated with corrosion inhibitor. These nanocapsules will deliver a next-generation, water-based, acrylic, epoxy or polyurethane based anticorrosive coatings into the market.