EDITOR’S LETTER
I
t is well known that the latest NACE assessment of the economic impact of corrosion assessed that the global cost of this natural phenomenon is 2.5 trillion dollars, equal to more than 3% of global GDP in 2013 (http://impact.nace.org/economic-impact.aspx).
Until recently, the negative impact of anti-corrosion coatings on the environment, human health, and safety has also been significant. Now, the scenario has changed.
The protective coating sector is increasingly moving towards the formulation of sustainable and environmentally friendly anti-corrosion products and systems, following a trend that has already taken root in the fields of paints and coatings for the general, automotive, and architecture industries. Let us think, for example, of the trend of replacing solvent-based systems with water-based or high solid and ultra-high solid technologies, which is also consolidating in the anti-corrosion sector, as is another low environmental-impact coating technology, that of powder coatings. As evidenced by numerous research projects in the EU (e.g. ADDPRIME https:// cordis.europa.eu/article/id/397823-ecofriendly-smart-materials-enhance-corrosionprotection-costeffectively/it and Graphene Flagship, in which Italy is an active part with two researchers www.garrnews.it/index.php/ricerche/169), the use of smart and multifunctional materials, often based on micro and nanotechnologies or graphene compounds, can increase the coatings’ barrier effect performance. In other words, these can reduce direct exposure of the underlying metal to oxygen, water, and other corrosive substances. Of course, turning a scientific revolution into a new industrial technology is a challenging as well as long process, which might take years. On the other hand, however, it is the only way to keep countries, especially the European ones, highly competitive. ipcm®_Protective Coatings has been an active part in the technical, and partly even scientific, education process for years now, by keeping on presenting innovations in the field of technologies for the prevention and mitigation of corrosive phenomena. On several occasions, we have hosted articles on these pages about developments in the application of graphene in barrier coatings, of sustainable additives and VpCIs based on organic and non-polluting raw materials, of very high solid-content paints reducing volatile compounds indoors and outdoors, and of high-performance, two-coat powder systems for the anti-corrosion fields in which liquid paints have always prevailed. This October edition also features numerous articles on these topics, with a particular focus on corrosion protection in the wind sector, an increasingly widespread energy source not only in Northern Europe. The major innovations in this industry will be presented at the Wind Energy Hamburg trade fair, which is going to be held virtually from 1 to 4 December 2020 and of which ipcm®_Protective Coatings is a media partner.
Alessia Venturi Editor-in-chief
ipcm® Protective Coatings - 2020 OCTOBER - N.35
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