The main objective of this review is to describe some of the important topics related to the use of marine and protective coatings for anticorrosive purposes. In this context, “protective” refers to coatings for containers, offshore constructions, wind turbines, storage tanks, bridges, rail cars, and petrochemical plants while “marine” refers to coatings for ballast tanks, cargo holds and cargo tanks, decks, and engine rooms on ships. The review aims at providing a thorough picture of state-of-the-art in anticorrosive coatings systems. International and national legislation aiming at reducing the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have caused significant changes in the anticorrosive coating industry. The requirement for new VOC-compliant coating technologies means that coating manufacturers can no longer rely on the extensive track record of their time-served products to convince consumers of their suitability for use. An important aspect in the development of new VOC-compliant, high-performance anticorrosive coating systems is a thorough knowledge of the components in anticorrosive coatings, their interactions, their advantages and limitations, as well as a detailed knowledge on the failure modes of anticorrosive coatings. This review, which mainly deals with European experience and practice, includes a description of the different environments an anticorrosive coating system may encounter during service. In addition, examples of test methods and standards for determination of the performance and durability of anticorrosive coatings have been included. The different types of anticorrosive coatings are presented, and the most widely applied generic types of binders and pigments in anticorrosive coatings are listed and described. Furthermore, the protective mechanisms of barrier, sacrificial, and inhibitive coatings are outlined. In the past decades, several alternatives to organic solvent-borne coatings have reached the commercial market. This review also presents some of these technologies and discusses some of their advantages and limitations. Finally, some of the mechanisms leading to degradation and failure of organic coating systems are described, and the reported types of adhesion loss are discussed.

Anticorrosive coatings: a review

The role of the interphase in the environmental failure of adhesive joints

Modelling the environmental degradation of adhesively bonded aluminium and composite joints using a CZM approach

An EIS study of ion diffusion through organic coatings

Interaction of epoxy model molecules with aluminium, anodised titanium and copper surfaces: an XPS study

The delamination of a commercial epoxy coating applied to cathodically protected mild steel has been investigated from both a mechanistic and a kinetic standpoint. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows the locus of failure to be invariant with surface profile, and essentially adhesive in nature. The substrate pretreatment does, however, determine the kinetics of disbondment. A three-stage process for such failure is identified, the rate-controlling step passing from oxide reduction at a defect to the cathodic area exposed, and finally to interfacial path length. A simple relationship is presented to describe the disbondment rate in terms of this interfacial path length. The concept of a critical disbondment velocity for the epoxy mild steel system is proposed. It is shown that oxide reduction is an important precursor to cathodic disbondment for this system.

The application of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to the study of polymer-to-metal adhesion: Part 2 The cathodic disbondment of epoxy coated mild steel

J. F. Watts

Papers

The application of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to the study of polymer-to-metal adhesion: Part 2 The cathodic disbondment of epoxy coated mild steel