For many years there have been three primary methods of corrosion protection. Cathodic protection, sacrificial anode and barrier coat. Now EonCoat offers a fourth method by enabling a passive/alloyed layer chemically bonded to steel that is stable (stable means a metal like gold or platinum that doesn’t generally react with other chemicals).
We’ve had a number of customers ask “Can we topcoat it?” The answer is yes. EonCoat has an inert porous surface with a pH of about 10 so almost all paints bond to it easily without further prep.
We’ve had samples in the sea water spray chamber for nearly a year that have a basecoat of EonCoat and are covered with various topcoats.
As sometimes happens, the most interesting results are unplanned. About 9 months ago one of our lab technicians and application specialist, Mark, put just a brush pass of EonCoat (maybe 2 to 3 mils) on a 3x3 plate with zero prep and sprayed it with a Krylon topcoat out of a can. He then tossed the plate into the sea water chamber curious to see what would happen. After 9 months this sample still looks like new except for a couple of spots of organic growth on the surface, which can easily be wiped off by hand. Now if EonCoat can make a $3 can of Krylon last like a world class protective coating, just think what it could do for a quality barrier coating.
There are more reasons to consider using EonCoat as a primer.
For a long time the most effective corrosion products have employed a system using multiple coating products that work together and complement each other. For example, it is common to use a sacrificial anode primer covered by a barrier coating. The idea is to use the barrier coating to keep corrosion promoters out but if they get past the barrier the sacrificial primer is consumed before the steel starts to rust. This same strategy could be applied to a combination of a topcoat over EonCoat. EonCoat creates a stable layer that does not react. While this layer should be permanent it is likely that at least a few molecules or ions of any substance will eventually dissolve in water. Adding a topcoat that reduces the amount of water that reaches the EonCoat passive layer would logically further reduce the possibility of ever seeing corrosion.
Additionally, a well-designed topcoat system can also improve performance because EonCoat is a ductile ceramic, but still a ceramic, and with that comes some inherent brittleness. A polymer is exactly the right material to cushion blows and improve the impact resistance of EonCoat in areas where impact is prevalent, like rocks hitting an over the road trailer.
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