Mechanisms of non-toxic anticorrosive pigments in organic waterborne coatings

Investigations have been carried out concerning the mechanism of the behaviour of non-toxic anticorrosive pigments belonging to the group of phosphates, ferrites and ion exchange pigments in waterborne systems. The mechanism controlling the protective effectiveness of organic coatings is complex and results from simultaneous activity of various agents, from among which the kind of the corrosion inhibitor and the structure of the coating are of fundamental importance. The effect of pigments on the protective properties of coatings was tested by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET) as well as the salt spray and Prohesion tests. For the investigation of the structure of coatings the porosymetric method and modulated-force thermomechanical analysis (mf TMA) were applied. The results of these investigations have shown that calcium zinc phosphate and zinc ferrite are the most effective. These pigments take part in the passivation of steel, which has been proved by the results of electrochemical investigations and by the presence of the passive layers as has been found out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Calcium zinc phosphate and zinc ferrite affect the structure of the coatings, increasing the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the coatings. Zinc phosphate and calcium-exchanged silica do not act in compliance with electrochemical mechanism neither do they improve the barrier properties of the binder.