Characterization of Coatings of New Technology for Corrosion Prevention

Nowadays, there are various types of new technology coatings used in the corrosion protection. These include from organic solvent-based formulations to water solvent-based and solvent free (high content of solids). Regardless of their nature, these protection systems must present properties to ensure good performance against various environmental conditions.

In this work, factors such as degradation, corrosion resistance and the effect of type of coatings formulation are investigated, by implementing contact angle tests and accelerated weathering. Thus, qualitative information about the systems is obtained. For this purpose the samples are exposed to different solutions which simulate the corrosive environments, according to ASTM B117 -11 and ASTM D 5894-10 standards. Also, electrochemical techniques as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and electrochemical frequency module (EFM), were employed to provide quantitative information about the process of degradation and corrosion.

The visual defects usually appear when the resistance of the coatings tends to a value ≤ 1x10⁶ Ohm/cm². The obtained information allows to enquire the process of degradation of the systems and their level of protection, and the relationship between the electrochemical parameters and visual assessment.