News Coatings Technologies
Polyurea composite coating combines UV and corrosion resistance
Researchers have developed a high-performance polyurea composite coating featuring silica nanoparticles functionalised with a light stabiliser and fluorocarbon chains. The system delivers strong UV stability, corrosion resistance and acid/base resistance, offering long-term protection for metal equipment exposed to outdoor environments.
Corrosion poses a serious threat to the long-term operation of metal equipment and can ultimately lead to its decommissioning. Polyurea composite coatings are widely used for metal protection due to their excellent anti-corrosion performance, but their limited resistance to ultraviolet radiation restricts their use in outdoor environments. To address this drawback, researchers functionalised silica with fluorocarbon chains and a light stabiliser, then incorporated the modified filler into a polyurea composite coating to improve weatherability, corrosion resistance and acid/base resistance.
After 1,800 h of UV irradiation, the polyurea composite coating exhibited a colour difference of only 4.6, while the water contact angle decreased only slightly from 98° to 94°, indicating strong UV stability.
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Durable corrosion and chemical resistance
When the irradiated coating was further immersed in a 5 wt% NaCl solution for 18 days, the |Z|0.1Hz value still reached 1.11 × 10⁹ Ω·cm². No visible rust or blistering was observed after 78 days of salt-spray testing or after 82 days of immersion in 5 wt% NaCl, 5 wt% NaOH and 5 wt% H₂SO₄ solutions, demonstrating outstanding chemical durability.
The coating also exhibited superior mechanical performance. According to the authors, the combined functionalisation strategy offers a new route for developing high-performance polyurea composite coatings designed for the long-term protection of metal equipment in demanding outdoor environments.
Source: Zeng, Y. et al., High-performance polyurea composite coating with superior weatherability and corrosion resistance via incorporating silica functionalized by light stabilizer and fluorocarbon chain. Progress in Organic Coatings, 110126 (2026).
