smart pigments - Jactio.com

For steel buildings and building components, such as balconies, railings, or carports, the surface coating of the components plays a crucial role. It serves two purposes: to create visual appeal and to protect the components from environmental influences and corrosion for as long as possible. In steel construction with structural steel, three main types of surface finishing are used: painting, galvanizing, and powder coating. Painting and powder coating provide corrosion protection by keeping oxygen away from the component surface. With galvanized components, corrosion protection is additionally achieved through electrochemical protection, which is effective even in the presence of defects such as surface cracks. Details can be found in this article about galvanizing. Improved corrosion protection through a combination of processes: If you want to color the components while still benefiting from the cathodic corrosion protection of galvanizing, the processes can be combined by first galvanizing the components and then coating them with wet paint or powder coating. This provides double corrosion protection that withstands harsh environmental conditions. Disadvantages of Galvanizing and Coating: The combination of these processes not only has advantages but also disadvantages: Complex Preparation: Galvanized components cannot be coated directly. Galvanizing can create rough spots, pitting, or flaking of the zinc layer. These areas require extensive cleaning and reworking. Dimensional Accuracy: During galvanizing, the components are immersed in a bath of liquid zinc. The resulting surface is not uniformly thick. Thickening occurs where the zinc cannot drain well, while the zinc layer can be thinner in other areas. Component Geometry: For hot-dip galvanizing, the components must be designed so that the liquid zinc can reach all parts of the component and drain away again. Where this is not possible, appropriate holes must be provided. Depending on the application, these holes can be considered a hindrance. Costs: The additional costs for galvanizing are approximately €0,40/kg. Transport costs and the costs for preparing the zinc layer for coating are also added. As a rule, the combination of galvanizing and coating is more than twice as expensive as coating alone. Higher corrosion resistance without galvanizing: An alternative to galvanizing and coating was developed a few years ago by the Max Planck Society. Inspired by the self-healing properties of human skin, a coating was developed that repairs defects independently. So-called "smart pigments" are incorporated into the coating. These tiny containers release a corrosion inhibitor when defects or cracks occur, which then seals the surface.

Alternatives to galvanizing and powder coating