The overall objective of NEOPROTECT is to develop and validate, for the aeronautics and railway sectors, enhanced REACH-compliant coatings for the protection of aluminium components. These coatings are based on the incorporation of encapsulated corrosion inhibitors (capsules: LDH and/or SiNC; inhibitors: VOx and/or MBT) into chromium-free anodising and cathodic electrophoretic (e-coat) coatings. NEOPROTECT will outperform existing chromium-free alternatives by improving corrosion resistance, providing long-term protection and, in some cases, enhanced resistance to filiform corrosion. The project focuses on the following aluminium alloys: AA2024 and AA7075 for aeronautics, and A5754 H111 and AA6063 T5 for railway applications.
CIDETEC’S role in the project:
As a reference centre in surface treatments, with a research line focused on the surface protection of light alloys and extensive expertise in anodising and anodising alternatives (including cathodic electrophoretic coating), CIDETEC Surface Engineering has been subcontracted by both Spanish partners for the entire duration of the project. CIDETEC will contribute to the development and validation of a chromium-free protection system for aluminium alloys based on encapsulated corrosion inhibitors for cathodic electrophoretic coating processes. Its work also includes studying the stability of the coating formulation and developing repair methodologies based on brush plating.