Chemical and physical characterization of water based inorganic-organic hybrid paints applied onto the metal surfaces

Volatile organic molecules are pollute the environment and threaten the human life. Instead of large quantities of water-based paint and coating materials being used in this study is of great importance today. Sol-gel process is a candidate for the replacement of harmless materials as a painting method onto the metal, ceramic, glass, polymer surfaces as a protective agent. Sol-gel coatings contribute to the mechanical and chemical protection of materials and additionally provide antireflective, antiadhesive, antistatic, hydrophilic, hydrophobic feature to the surfaces.In this work, an epoxysilane Glymo (Glycidyl oxypropyl trimethoxysilane) (epoxy molecule carrier) and an acrylic silane Memo (methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane) (acrylic group carrier) have been polymerized for the synthesis of water based hybrid coatings which is harmless for the environment. These coatings were doped with industrially avaible aluminium particles and applied onto the metal surfaces with spray coating and cured by UV light and thermally. Sol-gel method was applied and acid based catalysis was used for the hydrolysis and condensation reactions. Obtained prepolymers were doped with metallic aluminium particles (four different fort he Glymo and three different fort he Memo) for the decorative applications. Chemical analysis of produced hybrid nanocomposite structures were conducted with FT-IR, NMR and TG-DTA analysis. As a result, TG-DTA measurement of material loss was observed with an average of 42%. After spray coating and curing, coating surface was analysed with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and roughness, surface morphology, nanoparticle distribution phenomena was discussed and homogeneous particle distribution, durable paint formulation has been identified. Contact angles of the surfaces with water revealed that aluminium particles modulate the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of the coating surfaces. G1 plate sample measured 81-degree angle with the most hydrophilic. Mechanical investigation of the coatings has been done according to the ASTM standarts and corrosion, adhesion, scratch resistancy performances detected.As a result, water based, environmentally harmless hybrid nanocomposites have been produced with aluminium particles and their covering properties for the decorative aims observed in details. These new coatings are the possible industrial candidates for the replacement of the paints which use epoxy based primers with the same and/or better chemical and mechanical properties.