UV‐curable sol–gel based protective hybrid coatings

UV‐curable, novel, fluorinated polyether ether ketone urethane acrylate oligomer (FPEEKUA) has been synthesized and used as corrosion‐protector in sol–gel hybrid coatings for metallic substrates. Incorporation of FPEEKUA and sol–gel in the formulations improved coatings’ physical properties such as gel content, hardness, adhesion, gloss, flexibility, and contact angle. Due to strong interaction between acrylate and highly crosslinked structures, mechanical properties improved drastically with homogenously dispersed structures throughout the organic matrix, while water uptake values decreased and thermal stability and char yields increased. Highest contact angle values were measured up to 94° with shinny coatings. The results are important for two reasons. First, polyether ether ketone (PEEK) immiscibility problem are overcome by using reactive oligomer and benefitted from high performance properties of poly(arylene ether ketones) (PAEK)s in hybride coating applications. Second, Coatings combine the advantages of sol–gel with poly(arylene ether ketone urethane acrylate) (PAEKUA) oligomer and they can be used as barrier coatings in metal corrosion protection. Performance tests in corrosive mediums at room temperature of chlorine solution (bleach) for 24 h and also in a 10 wt% HCl solution for 92 h produced promising results for use in corrosion mitigation applications in highly corrosive downstream oil and gas industry. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:E146–E154, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers