Mexico. A research carried out at the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) demonstrated through the technique of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy that materials to coat water-based metals are more economically and environmentally efficient, since they emit 35 percent fewer pollutants than those manufactured with a solvent base.
The work "Electrochemical characterization of hybrid films obtained from water-based dispersions", was presented by the student Jannet Galván Acosta, and her advisor, Professor Yuri Reyes Mercado, who obtained the second place in the Science and Engineering Fair 2017, convened by the Mexican Council of Science and Technology.
Among the existing methods to protect those from corrosion, an efficient one is the application of a physical barrier through paint with which they are coated in a normal way and the most used has a solvent base, with the disadvantage that it causes high damage to the environment, which is incorporated once the paint dries, said in a statement from the UAM.
"The objective was to obtain a film with a water-based dispersion to avoid affectations and reduce the investment, since it would represent 25 percent of the cost of a solvent-based one," they said.
To achieve efficiency, they developed a hybrid compound by combining the polymer of the coating with white portland cement, which registers higher yields than only with the water-based polymer.
"We characterize this coating to demonstrate that the adhesion of a second element to a water-based element increases the efficiency in terms of metal defense, with a much lower impact on the habitat and at a lower cost, because we eliminate deterioration by 35 percent," said Galván Acosta.
He stressed that this is a contribution to the care of nature that consisted of generating a form of help by creating less aggressive products, in this case paints, which will not be eliminated because they fulfill an aesthetic mission and are functional in the protection of alloys.
However, he added, the aim is to decrease the use of organic solvents and "use one hundred percent solid and water-based coatings," the researcher added.
Source: http://www.alianzatex.com/nota.php?nota=N0055148
