STTR Phase I: Multi-functional, epoxy based, low cost nanocomposite coatings for corrosion protection

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase-I project is in the development of low cost, environmentally-friendly coating materials for corrosion prevention. Corrosion is a significant global issue, resulting in high maintenance and repair costs. Current anti-corrosion coatings need an improvement in effective barrier against water or moisture. As a result, it is imperative to develop improved corrosion resistance coatings, leading to reduced downtime and damage to equipment and important infrastructure. This study aims to achieve the desired level of barrier properties necessary to significantly improve passive protection of the coated surface. These coating material developed will be sustainable and will use low cost clay as fillers to replace expensive Zinc fillers in coating formulations, completely or partially. The developed technology will have the potential to reduce damages due to corrosion in spectrum of industries spanning infrastructure, shipping, food containers, defense, and automobile domains. Primary fillers used will be non-toxic, abundantly available, versatile, low-cost, and easily adaptable with current coating manufacturing protocols, making them commercially viable. Successful completion of project phase I & II will result in advanced manufacturing job creation and reduce corrosion related costs in industry and improve infrastructure lifetime. The technical objective of this STTR Phase-I proposal is developing a platform technology for multi- functional low cost epoxy-based nanocomposite coatings for corrosion protection. The innovation in the proposed multi-functional coatings lay in deriving the benefits of various fillers and a combinatorial approach to synergistic harvesting of functionality and robustness. Polymer nanocomposites provide an opportunity to harness the maximum benefits of properties when fillers are uniformly dispersed in the host matrix. The structural integrity of metal and its products is directly dependent on its anti-corrosive properties, which can be enhanced using modified clay as fillers. Passive and active protection against corrosion reaction can be achieved by using transition metal ion modified clay as a filler coupled with dispersion and improved polymer-filler interactions. As part of this STTR Phase-I award we will optimize the formulations such that corrosion resistance and other key properties of coatings are enhanced. The validated corrosion resistance coatings will then be translated towards commercial success by: i) producing and benchmarking novel coating formulations for corrosion resistance, ii) scaling-up the production process, iii) mathematical modeling for recursive design of these coatings. At end of the project we will have a superior low cost multi-functional coating with lower toxic footprint.