REACh Compliant Hexavalent Chrome Replacement for Corrosion Protection

Cr6+ chemistry dominates the field of corrosion protection; however, its elimination by 2016 as currently recommended by REACH, requires new alternates to be found. Some alternatives have been proposed, but there is no wide acceptance of them and the acceptance criteria and test regime to support new developments, other than salt fog testing, which is widely seen as inadequate, do not exist. This is of particular concern to the aerospace industry as critical aerospace applications require the use of “paint finishes to protect the base metal from corrosion for up to 40 years to ensure the safety of passengers” (ASD position paper to ECHA, dated 13 September 2011). The development of valid, industry wide test methodologies, application of these to the development of REACH compliant replacements suitable for rapid deployment before 2016 is thus required. A consortium has been brought together to address this issue over 2 years.