Introduction Corrosion is still one of the most serious processes for the destruction of investment goods, and in Europe far more than 100 billion of € are lost every year. Presently corrosion protection strongly relies on the use of hazardous heavy metals like chromium.
The IP MULTIPROTECT brings together 31 academic and industrial researchers from 13 countries for a period of four years starting March 2005. The consortium aims to provide a generally applicable, highly innovative, heavy metal free, multifunctional and corrosion preventing surface technology on the basis of smart nanocomposite materials with new nanoparticles as functional design elements
The main aim of the IP MULTIPROTECT is the development of a generally applicable multifunctional corrosion protection coating technology on the basis of nanostructured materials with novel nanoparticles as functional design elements. It will not only replace the presently used corrosion protection systems which are based on toxic and environmentally hazardous heavy metal compounds like chromates, but will at the same time add tailored third functions such as abrasion resistance, low friction or low surface energy.
Nanoparticulate corrosion inhibitors will be developed which permit the control of their release from the applied coating system to achieve active corrosion protection and self-healing properties. Self organization phenomena linked to a specially tailored surface chemistry of the nanoparticles will be used for the one step gradient formation effecting low surface energies, low friction or special optical effects.
The new technology will establish economical and environmentally friendly production and application processes for the most important European industrial sectors. By eliminating heavy metal compounds, especially chromates from corrosion protection systems, MULTIPROTECT will reduce substantially the heavy metal contamination of the environment, significantly contributing to the improvement of working conditions and “quality of life” in Europe.
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