Designing green, self-healing coatings for metal protection

Metals are used extensively in modern society in a range of applications from infrastructure to aircraft to consumer products. The protection of metals, primarily from corrosion, has been an active area of materials science for many years. However, over the last 20 years, changing regulations governing both environmental issues and human health have driven even greater activity in this field. Addressing these regulatory changes presents some of the most exciting challenges in materials science. This review looks at current metal protection schemes, exploring the development of 'green' inhibitors and 'self-healing' paint films that have inbuilt capacity to maintain functionality. Inorganic and organic materials science has undergone rapid development in recent decades and this review looks at how some of those developments, particularly in encapsulation and polymer healing, can be applied to the design of new protective paint systems.