Proposed is a robust, non-toxic corrosion inhibitor system consisting of novel, stable colloidal, hybrid polymeric or composite materials that are modified and combined with selected corrosion inhibition groups. Chain length and number and type of functional groups can be adjusted. Hydrophobicity and other properties of the polymeric materials can be also modified. These polymers and their mixtures will be designed and formulated into a corrosion inhibiting package (with optimized corrosion inhibitor ratio, concentration and solubility) so that they can be easily applied to metal substrates from water or solvent solutions as pre-treatments, primers or coatings, to provide an innovative, versatile, robust, non-toxic corrosion inhibitor system. This novel inhibitor system can involve more than four-fold synergistic combinations of materials and functions, to achieve the desired corrosion inhibiting performances and other hybrid advantages over chromates.
Benefit: This proposed technology (if successful), will directly beneficial to DOD and NAVY's efforts in replacing chromates for equivalent or better corrosion protection of aircraft and other weapon systems. Commercial aerospace industry will be beneficial from the technology also for the same reason. Except for the strong demand in defense and aerospace industry, the commercial potential of this novel, non-toxic, and high efficiency inhibitor technology will also be enormous in other industries such as water treatment, coatings and paints, oil, gas, chemical processing, metal manufacturing and surface finishing, etc. According to a 2002 Freedonia Group market research report on corrosion inhibitors (which analyzed 950 million pound US corrosion inhibitors industry), demand for corrosion inhibitors in the US is forecast to increase 4.4 percent per year to $1.6 billion in 2006. Higher-value and specialty formulations will continue to replace low-cost commodity chemicals in most markets. Thus, such a higher-value, high performance and environmental friendly corrosion inhibitor package provides a viable option and competitive market opportunity for the industry.
Keywords: Linear polymer, Linear polymer, Non-toxic corrosion inhibitor, Graft polymer, Synergistic effect, Functional polymer, Inorganic-organic hybrid material, chromate free, hydrophobicity
