Corrosion and mechanical properties of polyurethane/Al composite coatings with low infrared emissivity

Low infrared emissivity coatings were prepared by using polyurethane (PU) and aluminum (Al) as adhesives and fillers, respectively. Due to increasing the electrical conductivity with increasing Al content, the infrared emissivity is decreasing obviously. Mechanical properties of PU/Al composite coatings were studied by using adhesion test and impact strength test. We found the relationship between the Al content and mechanical properties presents a "U" type, and PU/Al composite coating has good adherence and impact strength at Al content of 40 wt%. Moreover. the composite coatings were tested for the corrosion behavior with potentiodynamic polarization. Corrosion test results showed that the Al(2)O(3) from Al oxidation do not sacrifice the corrosion resistance of PU itself, and the low emissivity composite coatings exhibited favorable corrosion resistance. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.