Recent Patents on Corrosion Science - Volume 1, Issue 2, 2011

Emerging fuel cell industry is strongly committed to mitigate materials degradation issues in an effort to bring the operational life of fuel cells closer to the projected multi-year design. A particularly important problem is performance degradation or failure of the bipolar plate component caused by metallic corrosion attack. This paper reviews the recent patent literature on corrosion protection methods for metal bipolar plates in the sector of PEM, MCFC and SOFC fuel cells. Developments in corrosion technology during the past decade have been analyzed with the purpose to individuate the most interesting trends and future technology opportunities. It has been found that cost-effective, environmentalfriendly and easy-to-implement surface overlay coating treatments account for the largest number of published patents in the attempt to alleviate the cost burdens of the bipolar plate component. In general, further improving of the most promising corrosion-resistant coating systems is recognized as an important issue for future research. Potential exists also for transfer of MCFC and SOFC corrosion technology to other high temperature process industries.

The coupled multielectrode array sensor (CMAS) is an emerging technology for monitoring localized corrosion, such as pitting, intergranular attack, crevice corrosion, or other forms of nonuniform corrosion. The technique has been used for online, real-time corrosion monitoring in laboratories and field systems. In this paper, the patents related to the development of CMAS technology for localized corrosion monitoring are reviewed. These patents include applications in mapping or monitoring localized corrosion; methods for localized corrosion rate measurements; method to minimize internal current; improvement in electronics and software; planar CMAS probe; and high-temperature electrochemical sensors. Current and future developments of this corrosion monitoring technology are discussed.

If not properly managed, microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) may have significant economic, safety, health, or environmental consequences for a wide range of industries. Microbes can actively participate in the corrosion processes and affect their thermodynamics and kinetics; interfere in the electrochemical reactions at the anode, at the cathode, or both; and alter the metal/solution interface and the redox potential of the substratum via a host of often interrelated mechanisms. Over the last two to three decades, significant advancements have been made to improve the understanding of dynamic interactions between microbes and metallic surfaces. This paper presents the current understanding of MIC, followed by a synthesis of various recent patents, patent applications and publications related to the mitigation of MIC. The 15 inventions reviewed concern a period extending from the years 2002 up to date. The paper concludes with a discussion of future developments expected in the subjects covered.

In this work, modification of rosin as epoxy organic coating was reported. Epoxy resins were prepared from modified rosin, rosin Diels-Alder adducts, rosin formaldehyde and their ketone. These adducts were reacted with epichlorohydrine in the presence of NaOH as a catalyst to produce epoxy resins. The preparation of the curing agents for the epoxy resins based on rosin poly (amideimide) was investigated. The recent advances in manipulating patterned rosin arrays and patents are reviewed with a focus on the progress of production of epoxy resins based on biopolymer and natural products and their epoxy organic coating applications.

There is a relation between air pollution and corrosion of materials. A number of air pollutants, such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, nitrogen oxide,…etc, corrode materials, e.g. carbon steel, copper, aluminum,…etc. Corrosion of materials affects the world economy because the materials, for example, carbon steel, copper and aluminium form the backbone of many industries. The estimated $2.2 trillion annual cost of corrosion worldwide (3 to 4 % of GDP of industrialised countries) reflects in part many decision-makers in industry and government not fully understanding the consequences of corrosion and how critical it is to control it. Therefore, controlling corrosion is a crucial need to protect the environment and to decrease the loss of economy. Better corrosion management can be achieved using preventive methods in nontechnical and technical areas. There are different methods for controlling or inhibiting corrosion, for example, inhibitors and coatings. It is important to care about the environment by using environmentally friendly compounds. There are a number of patents presented in this review article about the environmentally friendly inhibitors and coatings.

Synthesis of mesoporous alumina has received attention of researchers due to its application, as support for heterogeneous catalysts. In order to use mesoporous alumina as support, it should have a desired surface area, pore size, and pore volume. Generally, mesoporous alumina is synthesized using sol-gel method. This article reviews the influence of different parameters during the synthesis on the textural properties of mesoporous alumina from recent works and patents. The effect of variables during the synthesis route such as types of surfactant, pH of reaction medium, water concentration in hydrolysis reaction, as well as calcination temperature are reviewed and discussed.

The patents annotated in this section have been selected from various patent databases. These recent patents are relevant to the articles published in this journal issue, categorized by the processes and technologies related to various disciplines of corrosion science.....