Conducting polymers as corrosion resistant coatings
Although the majority of top coatings used for corrosion protection are electrically insulating, previous workers have proposed using an electrically active barrier for corrosion control. The most effective corrosion resistant undercoatings in use today are based on chromium compounds. Coatings based on other materials will need to replace these coatings by the turn of the century because of environmental and health concerns. For this reason the authors have begun an investigation of the use of conducting polymers as corrosion resistant coatings as an alternative to metal-based coatings. Conducting polymers have long been considered to be unsuitable for commercial processing, hindering their use for practical applications. Research in the field of electrically conducting polymers has recently produced a number of polymers such as polyaniline and its derivatives which are readily soluble in common organic solvents. The authors coating system, consisting of a conducting polyaniline primer layer, topcoated with epoxy or polyurethane, has been evaluated for corrosion resistance on mild steel substrates. In this paper, the authors report the results of laboratory testing under acidic and saline conditions and the results of testing in the severe launch environment at the Beach Testing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. The launch environment consists of exposure to corrosive HCl exhaust fumes and the salt spray from the Atlantic Ocean.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 10180451
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR--94-2734; CONF-9408156--1; ON: DE94018265
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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