Better protection against rust and corrosion is a step closer after a breakthrough from a Swansea University (Swansea, United Kingdom) research team, who say they have discovered a safer, smarter way of tackling the problem.
The team, led by Professor Geraint Williams and doctorate student Patrick Dodds, is developing a new ‘smart release’ corrosion inhibitor for use in coated steel products. As a result, the team was recently awarded the Materials Science Venture Prize from The Worshipful Co. of Armourers and Brasiers (London, United Kingdom). The Armourers and Brasiers Co. is a leading domestic supporter of materials science education and research, and its venture prize is aimed at helping scientists commercialize their early stage research.
This breakthrough is of particular importance, the group says, because the corrosion inhibitor most widely used at present—hexavalent chromate—will be banned across the EU, starting in 2019. Dodds’ discovery of a material and manufacturing process for a ‘smart release’ coating which outperforms hexavalent chromate in lab tests could lead to the product taking a significant slice of the market, according to the researchers, who add that the market for coiled coated steel is potentially worth £3 billion per year in Europe alone.
“This is a significant breakthrough, showing a smarter and safer way of reducing corrosion,” says Williams. “The new product is environmentally sound, economical, and outperforms the market leader in laboratory tests. It illustrates that Swansea, with its close links between research and industry, remains at the heart of innovation in steel.”
Corrosion inhibitors are commonly used in a wide range of sectors, including coated steel products used to construct industrial, commercial, and other buildings. They are also used in the aerospace, aircraft, and automobile industries.
Dodds’ discovery contains a stored reservoir of corrosion inhibitor. It works by channeling aggressive electrolyte anions into the coating and triggering the release of the inhibitor ‘on demand’, thus preventing corrosion. When tested for corrosion with salt spray, the new coating outperformed hexavalent chromate.
“The system has been shown to prevent the onset of corrosion for over 24 hours, compared to less than two hours for the current market leader,” Dodds says. “We have also been able to demonstrate that the rate of corrosion can be slowed down significantly once it has started. This is by far the best result seen in 15 years of research on this topic.”
The research was carried out at Swansea University by using a scanning Kelvin probe, which can detect the state of the metal beneath a coating without touching it. This team-built probe allowed researchers to test different products much more quickly, with each test taking around 24 hours. In the past, researchers say the tests would have taken about 500 hours.
“The £25,000 prize win will be used to purchase a Jet Mill system, an essential tool for overcoming the remaining technical barriers preventing commercialization,” says Williams. “All the laboratory tests have been most encouraging, and the next stage is to demonstrate technical viability and commercial scalability.”
The intellectual property is owned by Swansea University, having been developed under a project co-funded by Tata Steel Colors. Swansea University also filed a patent application for the technology. Ownership will be transferred to a spin-out company in exchange for a minority shareholding, which will include a package of ongoing scientific, technical and business support to ensure the company is investable.
The spin-out company will be co-located with the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre at Swansea University in its company incubation area. Strategic partners include Tata Steel and BASF Chemicals, and it is funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK and the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.
“This is a significant discovery and shows how the U.K. is still a driving innovation force in industry,” says Professor Bill Bonfield, chairman of the Armourers and Brasiers Venture Prize judging panel. “Our prize looks to encourage scientific entrepreneurship in the U.K. and provide funding to help discoveries like this realize their potential.”