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- Metal Surface Self-Healing Coating
Corrosion of metal materials is a key issue in the oil and gas sector, posing a substantial threat to metal components' service life and worker safety. Organic coatings can protect metal surfaces from hostile ions by forming a barrier. Organic coatings, on the other hand, are constantly degraded during transit, installation, and use, which can result in a loss of barrier qualities due to undetectable microcracks. Smart coatings with self-healing and inhibitory effects have gotten a lot of attention as materials science has progressed.
Based on this, Alfa Chemistry can create a self-healing anti-corrosion coating that can heal micro-cracks in the coating or delay the metal's corrosion rate, considerably boosting the coating's performance and service life.
Alfa Chemistry used one-pot photopolymerization and interfacial aniline polymerization to create innovative polyaniline (PANI) microcapsules to improve the anti-corrosion performance of aqueous epoxy coatings. The polymerizable monomer, glycidyl methacrylate, GMA, is polymerized by a cross-linking agent under UV irradiation, resulting in the creation of a cross-linked PGMA shell. Aniline was then introduced to the aqueous phase, where it was adsorbed to the oil-water interface and oxidatively polymerized to produce a polyaniline shell. The prepared microcapsules' walls were made up of two layers: PANI and glycidyl methacrylate (PGMA).
Fig 1. Synthesis of novel microcapsules with self-healing and antiseptic functions. (Wu K. Y, et al. 2022)
The PANI shell provides corrosion protection, while the strongly cross-linked PGMA shell gives mechanical characteristics. This one-of-a-kind hybrid housing combines corrosion resistance, toughness, and solvent resistance. Due to its quick film-forming characteristics when in contact with oxygen, the core material works as a self-healing agent.
The experiment revealed that adding microcapsules to the coating not only gave it self-healing capabilities but also significantly increased its anti-corrosion capabilities. This polyaniline microcapsule aqueous epoxy coating is appropriate for a variety of metal applications and has outstanding self-healing and anti-corrosion qualities.
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