The research that Maarten Smulders undertook during his sabbatical leave in the fall of 2021 in the group of Filip Du Prez has been published in the European Polymer Journal. The work, jointly performed with PhD students Filip van Lijsebetten and Stephanie Engelen, describes how epoxy-based coatings can be made recyclable without affecting their barrier properties. To this end, within the epoxy network dynamic-covalent vinylogous urethane groups were introduced to create a vitrimer epoxy coating. Extensive characterisation of the coating, in part performed at the facilities of Flamac, revealed that the coatings maintained their corrosion protection even after exposure to salt water and steam condensation. In addition, upon damaging, the barrier properties could be restored by simple heating. Finally, it was demonstrated the coatings could reversibly adhered to an aluminium surface.
You can read the full paper here.