Thomas Michael Santosusso

HIGH PERFORMANCE INDUSTRIAL COATINGS

Coating systems can be thought of as serving two major functions—protection and decoration. When the protective function clearly becomes the more important of the two, especially under service conditions of exposure to particularly aggressive agents of corrosion or chemical attack, or to extremes of temperature, radioactive energy or wear, the appropriate coatings may be fairly labeled as high performance. Such conditions are often found in coating applications such as aerospace, marine, and military equipment; power generation, waste treatment, and petroleum and chemical processing sites; and pipeline and tank facilities, including those involving secondary containment. The usual substrate for such applications is usually a metal or concrete, although more recently protection of composite structures or ceramics has gained some importance. In this review, emphasis is placed on the application and performance properties of the organic binder systems used in such coatings. Particular stress is laid on field-applied coatings, as opposed to factory-applied or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coatings. Thus, coatings, which are capable of application and full property development under ambient conditions, are treated most extensively. For this reason, with the exception of the initial section, which outlines the general considerations involved in designing a high performance coating, binder types organize the review. The chapter includes a brief summary of the chemistry involved, a short history of the materials traditionally employed, a review of modern developments, and finally, some speculation as to the future of the technology.