Matthias Wittmar

Hybrid sol–gel coatings doped with transition metal ions for the protection of AA 2024-T3

The protective capabilities of sol–gel coatings are determined by their physical barrier properties. For an effective protection, a homogenous crack-free material is required, which prevents from attacks of corrosive species. When the coating is damaged, active corrosion protection is usually achieved by the use of inhibitors. Among the different inhibitors rare earth ions and especially cerium have shown effective inhibiting properties. Due to the complexity of the corrosion processes, a combination of inhibitors is expected to be superior to a monocomponent inhibiting. The aim of this study was to prove which other ions, used in combination with cerium, can improve the corrosion protection abilities of hybrid silica based inorganic–organic sol–gel coatings applied on aluminium alloy 2024 substrates. Mixtures of cerium nitrate with two other potential inhibitor substances were incorporated into a sol–gel matrix and their behaviour in neutral salt spray test and during EIS measurements was investigated. The Ce–P–Pr inhibitor combination (Ce3+, PO43−, Pr3+) has shown the best long-term corrosion protection properties at low doping levels.

Multiscale numerical modeling of Ce3+-inhibitor release from novel corrosion protection coatings

A novel hybrid sol–gel coating has recently been introduced as an alternative to high toxic chromate-based corrosion protection systems. In this paper, we propose a multiscale computational model to estimate the amount and time scale of inhibitor release of the active corrosion protection coating. Moreover, we study the release rate under the influence of parameters such as porosity and viscosity, which have recently been implicated in the stability of the coating. Numerical simulations obtained with the model predicted experimental release tests and recent findings on the compromise between inhibitor concentration and the stability of the coating.

Corrosion inhibiting cerium compounds for chromium-free corrosion protective coatings on AA 2024

Due to the future ban of chromium-containing corrosion protection coatings, there is a worldwide scientific effort to find a replacement for chromium as a corrosion inhibitor that also exhibits self-healing properties in scratches but without the negative effects like health and environmental hazards. In the present study promising results to achieve this goal are shown by using cerium compounds incorporated into an organic-inorganic hybrid material produced by the sol-gel process. Cerium compounds like cerium nitrate, cerium nitrate plus acetylacetonate, cerium acetylacetonate, and cerium sulphate were incorporated in sol-gel coating systems. The corrosion protection properties of these coatings were determined by means of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and in a conventional salt spray test. Furthermore, the leaching behaviour of the coatings was examined via Optical Emission Spectrometry (OES). Significant hints for self healing properties were obtained with a hybrid system doped with cerium nitrate in combination with acetylacetone.