Development on Microcapsule Based Self-healing Coatings for Corrosion Protection

Monday, April 4, 12-1 p.m.

Whitby Hall, Room 211

Dr. Qixin Zhou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at The University of Akron. Dr. Zhou received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University in 2014. Dr. Zhou’s research interest focuses on coating development for corrosion protection, which includes synthesis and formulation of functional coatings, failure analysis of coatings, computational simulations on coating behaviors, and coating’s service lifetime prediction.

Self-healing coatings, known as “smart” coatings, are of particular interest because these coatings can provide automatic repair and recovery. A healing agent is embedded into the coating and will release to repair damaged structures once the self-healing function is triggered. The prolonged service lifetime of self-healing coatings will result in less maintenance and cost reductions. While this concept is sound, a reliable application in coatings has not been identified. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop a novel experimental approach to build self-healing polymer coatings for corrosion protection.