U.S. Navy Research Laboratory Develops Aircraft Surface EnvironmentalLy Protected Coatings

the Corrosion Science and Engineering Center at the U.SNaval Research Laboratory (NRL) has developed a safer, more environmentally friendly surface coating for use on navy and Marine Corps aircraft surfacesthe surface coating is a single component (1K) polysiloxane based on silicone polymer that does not produce harmful isocyanate and other harmful air pollutants, while the Current U.SDepartment of Defense and commercial aircraft use a two-component (2K) polyurethane surface coating that produces harmful isocyanates and harmful air pollutantsDrEric Aiz, a senior research chemist at theU.SNaval Research Office and an engineer in the aircraft division of the Naval Aviation Center, applied a new surface coating to a Hornet F/A-18 fighter jet at the Naval Air Station in Patuxant, MarylandIn addition, the new surface coating is applied to the UH-1Y Venom helicopter at the Marine Corps New River Air Station in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and the AH-1Z "Venom" helicopter at the Padleton Base in the California Marine CorpsNew surface coatings on these aircraft are planned for 1 to 2 years of performance evaluation"We're proud of this achievement," said DrEitz,Polyurethane surface coatings have been used in naval aircraft for decades, but in recent years we have developed an environmentally friendly alternative surface coating with laboratory properties similar to traditional coatings and easy for painters to use"
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), exposure to isocyanate can cause inflammation of the skin and mucosa, chest tightness and breathing difficulties, as well as allergies, and even low doses can lead to severe asthma attacks;use polysiloxane instead of isocyanate to provide a safer coating for painters and maintenance personnelHowever, the new surface coating also contains lower levels of volatile organic compounds, which are released during spraying and are harmful to air quality single-component polysiloxane surface coating requires no metering, all chemical raw materials are placed in a single container, thus reducing preparation time and making the plane's surface more uniform in color The container can also be resealed for future use, reducing the cost of generating and disposing of hazardous waste Aiz and other chemists at the Naval Research Laboratory have previously developed surface-to-ship coatings, but aircraft coatings are more demanding "Developing new high-performance surface coatings for aircraft is more difficult than developing for ships," Dr Aiz said The aircraft has an aluminum housing, which means that the coating must provide greater flexibility, especially at low temperatures at high altitudes The aircraft surface coating must also be incognito for a long time "
as part of a large patent portfolio of naval research laboratories, U.S patents 9139753, 9701868 and 10190020 all relate to polymer and polysiloxane coating technologies The first two patents are licensed exclusively by NCP Coatings, Ayles, Michigan, which produces incognito surface coatings for demonstration and field verification NCP Coatings is also using this technology to develop semi-glossy surface coatings for aircraft the application of these surface coatings is coordinated by the Naval Aviation Systems Command and sponsored by the Department of Defense's Environmental Safety Technology Certification Program, which is also funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR)