Arsonsisi's cathodic products, deposited on aluminium foam to improve durability, have been researched at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering of the University of Trento, in Italy.
Metal foams have many applications, especially in the construction and transport sectors, since they are materials that combine lightness with good rigidity, mechanical resistance and thermal, electrical and acoustic properties. However, they have not yet been widely exploited due to their limited resistance to corrosion in many environments.
The metal parts of foams are subject to various types of corrosion, whereas uneven surfaces and the very high surface porosity of foams make it difficult to apply protective coatings.
The purpose of the study, carried out by Prof. Engineer Stefano Rossi, Product Design - Durability and Reliability of Materials and Plants - and by Dr. Massimo Calovi of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Trento (Italy), was to optimize the cataphoretic deposition process and examine the protective properties of cathodic coating on aluminium foam as a possible solution to the corrosion problem.
In fact, cataphoresis is appreciated for its excellent properties such as adhesion of the coating and good evenness, also on surfaces with a complex structure such as foam.
For the tests, Arsonsisi's black epoxy primer for cathodic electrodeposition, ARSONKOTE 212 2K BLACK (Figs. 1 and 2), was chosen, since the epoxy resin guarantees excellent adhesion and good mechanical properties of the film.
The characteristics of the obtained coatings were examined under a microscope, taking into consideration the thickness of the protective layer and the presence of defects. The corrosion behaviour of the coated foam was examined by exposure in acetic acid salt spray chamber and by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (Figs. 3 and 4).
The research results showed good resistance to corrosion of the samples after 1500 hours of testing in acetic saline mist, as well as a relatively low level of defects in the coating, a feature confirmed by the electrochemical impedance measurements.
The research was published in the scientific journal "Progress in Organic Coatings" (www.journals.elsevier.com/progress-in-organic-coatings).
The second part of the study will be presented at the next EUROCORR 2017 and ICC2017 conference, scheduled in Prague in September (www.eurocorr.org).
For further information: www.arsonsisi.com
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