Researchers Develop Replacement for Chromate Coatings
RENO, NV – A research team at the University of Nevada, Reno has developed a new environmentally friendly self-healing coating for aluminum to replace chromate coatings used in aerospace applications. The research was presented at the international Pacific Rim Meeting on Electrochemical and Solid-State Science in Hawaii.
Chromate conversion coatings have been used for more than 50 years to protect aluminum from corrosion. Attempts to replace them with non-toxic coatings have been underway since the 1980s. Although the use of chromates for consumer and automotive applications has been banned, it is still in use by the defense and aerospace industries under various exemptions, due to unavailability of suitable replacement combined with the high human and financial cost of failure from corrosion. The search for a suitable replacement has been elusive primarily due the self-healing characteristic of the coating. When scratched, the coating components from nearby sites migrate to the damaged region and re-protect the underlying alloy.