Accidents involving fire occur every day around the world, affecting thousands of people and causing economic losses. Some accidents are caused by steel structure failures, which experience a significant reduction in mechanical properties at temperatures of 400-550˚C. Therefore, fire protective coatings are required for steel structures and interest in the development of intumescent coatings has increased considerably. In this study, black wattle tannin was used as a carbon source in the formulation of intumescent coatings. Concentrations of 5% and 10% of tannin were incorporated into a novolac resin. The coating was applied on a steel plate and the thermal protection was evaluated by sample exposure to a flame for 30 min. The results showed that the tannin compound could be used as a carbon source for intumescent coatings. The temperature of the samples containing 10% of this compound was almost 300 ˚C lower compared to the uncoated steel plate.

Polymeric coatings may act as a physical barrier between the aggressive ions and the metal substrate. However, prolonged exposure may cause damage to the polymer coating, leading to a continuous reduction of the barrier effect and consequently loss of the corrosion protection. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS), cellulose and polyaniline emeraldine-salt (PAni ES) in an epoxy coating on the corrosion protection of mild steel. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and cellulose nanowhiskers (CNW) functionalized or not with PAni ES were used and compared. The coating properties were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), salt spray test and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The surface of the carbon steel, after 1000 h of exposure, did not present evidence of superficial corrosion. Polymer coatings using CNW and PAni ES showed improved corrosion protection properties even after 90 days of immersion in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. The greatest increase in the corrosion resistance of the coating was found by EIS for the epoxy coating reinforced with CNW functionalized with PAni ES, revealing a synergistic effect of the electroactivity of a conducting polymer and nanosized cellulose particles.

Antifouling coatings were prepared with paints containing polyaniline (PAni) and derivatives as active pigment, and evaluated by antifouling performance on metallic or polyvinyl chloride substrates. The paints, PAni and its derivatives were characterized by FT-IR spectrophotometry, thermogravimetric analysis, electrical conductivity and scanning electron microscopy. Coatings were also characterized by salt spray, leaching and erosion tests. Antifouling coatings’ performance was evaluated by immersion tests in a marine environment or in fresh water. Paints containing PAni-ES, PAni/DBSA and SPAN, and a co-biocide PyZn, showed antifouling performance similar to a commercial antifouling paint.

AbstractPolymer coatings have been used for the corrosion protection of metal surfaces acting as a physical barrier against several corroding media. In spite of the good efficiency of these coatings their resistance is limited due to the presence of localized defects which give place to localized corrosion. Aiming to improve the barrier properties of these coatings this work has proposed the use of nanocomposites as powder coatings based on a standard formulation of a commercial powder varnish. Nanocomposites with 2 and 4 wt% contents of organophilic montmorillonite (OMMT) were obtained in the molten state through of a co-rotating twin-screw extruder. The application of the nanocomposite coatings was performed by electrostatic pulverization on mild steel panels. The coatings were characterized to determine their structure using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The morphologies of the coatings were assessed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Gloss and adhesion measurements and the flexibility and impact resistance of the coatings were included in the physical assessment of the coatings. The corrosion performance was evaluated by the salt spray test and by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The coatings with clays presented predominantly exfoliated structures, with good dispersion of OMMT in the epoxy matrix. The addition of OMMT reduced the impact resistance, flexibility and gloss but increased the barrier properties of the coatings. The best corrosion performance in NaCl solution was achieved for 4 wt% OMMT.

<title>Abstract</title><p>Large buildings situated in hot regions of the Globe need to be agreeable to their residents. Air conditioning is extensively used to make these buildings comfortable, with consequent energy consumption. Absorption of solar visible and infrared radiations are responsible for heating objects on the surface of the Earth, including houses and buildings. To avoid excessive energy consumption, it is possible to use coatings formulated with special pigments that are able to reflect the radiation in the near- infrared, NIR, spectrum. To evaluate this phenomenon an experimental study about the reflectivity of paints containing infrared-reflective pigments has been made. By irradiating with an IR source and by measuring the surface temperatures of the samples we evaluated: color according to ASTM D 2244-14, UV/VIS/NIR reflectance according to ASTM E 903-12 and thermal performance. Additionally, the spectral reflectance and the IR emittance were measured and the solar reflectance of the samples were calculated. The results showed that plates coated with paints containing IR-reflecting pigments displayed lower air temperature on the opposite side as compared to conventional coatings, indicating that they can be effective to reflect NIR and decrease the temperature of buildings when used in roofs and walls.</p>

The study of conducting polymeric membranes is decisive in some areas, as in fuel cells and electrodialysis. This work aims the study of membranes using conventional and conductive polymers blends. Two types of polyurethane were used as conventional polymers, commercial thermoplastic polyurethane and polyurethane synthesized from castor oil and 4-4-dicyclohexylmethane isocyanate. Two kinds of conducting polymers were used, polyaniline doped with organic acid and a self doped polyaniline. The polymers and the membranes were characterized by electrical conductivity, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The synthesis of the membranes produced was proper, featuring a complete reaction, analyzed by FTIR. The membranes also showed good mechanical properties and thermal stability (≈ 220 °C). Among the membranes studied, the polyaniline doped with p-toluenesulphonic acid obtained higher thermal and viscoelastic properties. Thus they can be used in separation techniques using membranes.

Rice husk is a by-product of rice milling process that usually finds inadequate final disposal (burning, land filling). Thermoplastics composites filled with rice husk flour are materials that offer an alternative for using this agricultural resource viewing the production of low dense materials with some specific properties. In this work composites of polypropylene (PP) and rice husk flour (RHF) were prepared by melt extrusion. Maleic anhydride-modified PP (MAPP) was added as a coupling agent. It was verified that tensile strength decreased with filler loading. The presence of MAPP improved this property showing a strong dependence on the MAPP/RHF ratio (MAPP/RHF = 0.03 produced the best results). The density of the composites slightly increased with filler and coupling agent in comparison to pure PP. The presence of MAPP diminished more than 20% water uptake in highly-loaded composites.