CORROSION INDICATION BY SMART COATINGS

A multifunctional, smart coating for the autonomous control of corrosion has been developed based on micro-encapsulation technology.  Corrosion indicators as well as corrosion inhibitors have been incorporated into microcapsules, blended into several paint systems, and tested for corrosion detection and protection effectiveness. This paper summarizes the development process of the corrosion indication function of the smart coating and describes the optimization of the microcapsule formulations for corrosion early detection applications.  Corrosion detection in laboratory and accelerated testing have indicated spot specific corrosion events in terms of hours versus the standard protocol, naked eye visually identification, for obvious corrosion that is typically detected in terms of hundreds of hours or months.