Character Interview‖Liu Liwei: Zinc-rich VS zinc olefin, there is no need to waste zinc powder resources!

[ Character profile ] Liu Liwei, researcher and doctoral supervisor of the Suzhou Institute of Nanotechnology and Nanobionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Chairman of Suzhou Greifen Nanotechnology Co.

"Coating and Protection" : History, technological development, and current market development status of epoxy zinc-rich coatings?

Epoxy zinc-rich coatings have been put into use in Europe in the 1940s.

In traditional epoxy zinc-rich coatings, in order to achieve good metal anti-corrosion performance, a large amount of zinc powder is required to form an electrochemical conductive path, and the amount of metal zinc in the non-volatile content is required to be as high as 60% to 80% (HG/T3668-2009), A large amount of zinc powder accounts for about 60% to 70% of the material cost

However, the massive use of zinc powder resources is only a technical limitation and not necessary

For more than 80 years, traditional epoxy zinc-rich coatings have hardly made major technological breakthroughs, and technological stagnation has also led to serious product homogeneity competition.

With the emergence of new innovative graphene zinc powder coating products with excellent performance, high cost performance, low carbon and resource saving social value, driven by innovative companies, they will gradually penetrate the epoxy zinc-rich market and achieve Substitution and upgrading of products and markets

"Coating and Protection" : The resource and use of zinc are worrying.

In 2020, China's zinc production will be 4.

Metal zinc reserves are limited.

"Coating and Protection": Under the framework of the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality", what is the production status and market trend of zinc?

According to preliminary statistics, in 2020, China's total non-ferrous metal carbon dioxide emissions will be about 650 million tons, accounting for 6.

80% of the primary zinc ingots are produced by wet smelting.

Recently, the price of zinc has broken through the rise.

"Coating and Protection": The resource problem of zinc has become increasingly prominent, and the coating industry is also committed to the technological innovation of graphene low-zinc coatings.

The optimized formulation of graphene zinc powder coating uses a small amount of high-quality thin-layer graphene, only 30% of the non-volatile content of metallic zinc, and the resistance to neutral salt spray can be as high as 3000~6000 h (single coating, scratch Marks, within 90 μm film thickness), the salt spray resistance time exceeds 3 times the C5 environmental requirement defined by ISO12944, and exceeds the "graphene zinc powder coating" (HG/T 5573-2019), "zinc-rich primer" (HG/ T 3668-2009) more than 3 times the standard

In addition to improving the salt spray resistance, it also improves the convenience of construction.
The reasonable use of high-quality graphene also has very good thick film resistance to cracking, increasing the toughness of the paint film, and improving the adhesion of the paint film to the substrate substrate.

.

The innovative technology of new graphene materials will have a profound impact on the coatings industry.
High-quality graphene zinc powder coatings.
In order to save zinc, reduce carbon and reduce costs, the development of graphene zinc powder coatings is the realization of the sustainable development of the zinc coating industry.
Important safeguards
.

In the traditional concept of zinc powder dosage, "zinc-rich" means good anti-corrosion performance, and "low zinc" means "cut corners".
With the advent of graphene zinc-containing coatings, these understandings can be changed
.
Graphene and a small amount of zinc powder are used to achieve excellent anti-corrosion performance.
The anti-corrosion performance is not proportional to the amount of zinc powder
.
There is no need to waste zinc powder in the future .

"Coating and Protection": From the perspective of saving zinc powder resources and material costs, what is the prospect of graphene innovation in the market for the replacement and upgrading of zinc-rich anticorrosive coatings?

High-performance graphene zinc powder coatings.
Under the guidance of policies and standards, with the participation and promotion of many research institutes and innovative companies in the industry, a new graphene zinc powder coating track has been formed and has begun to gradually develop vigorously.
The promotion of industry standards has gradually begun to promote enterprises and markets
.

By saving zinc powder resources, reducing the cost of epoxy zinc powder coatings, and reducing the zinc powder by more than half, it is equivalent to saving about 25% of material costs.
The use of high-quality graphene innovative technology can greatly increase the added value of products
.

In addition, the high-performance graphene zinc powder coating can reduce maintenance, extend the service life, and save resources and costs
.
In particular, the protection period of the main body coating of the bridge in the newly revised version of JT/T 722 has been increased to 30 years (except for the attached steel structure)
.

At present, the application of graphene anticorrosive coatings in bridges, petrochemicals, energy, wind power, marine engineering, construction steel structures and other markets is gradually expanding, and it has become an inevitable trend to replace traditional epoxy zinc-rich products that are in the decline of product life
.

From the perspective of technological development, upgrading and substitution, cost performance, energy saving and carbon reduction, and resource saving, there is no need to waste zinc powder resources
.

Graphene innovative technology saves zinc powder resources, reduces energy consumption and carbon emissions, conforms to the national "dual carbon" goal and related industrial policies, and also conforms to the development trend of the coating industry toward green and resource conservation.
At the same time, it improves protection performance and extends Protection time, reduce material costs and maintenance costs
.
New technologies will change the market structure of industrial anti-corrosion coatings in the future and help the industry to develop with high quality
.

Editor: E Zhongmin

Source: "Coating and Protection" magazine

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