Development of SMART nanostructured layers for sensing corrosion in AQUAtic structures

SMARTAQUA aims to develop a sensing nanolayer applied directly on steel structures, to provide cost-effective, reliable means of detecting corrosion degradation. The sensing will be achieved by incorporation of smart additives that respond to degradation of metallic structures into thin coating matrix, and to monitor the overall integrity of the structure. A thin layer will be developed in such a way to host the sensing additives without influencing their sensing capabilities. At the meantime, the sensing additives and coating component should show low toxicity to the marine plants and pose low environmental risks. During the course of the project, different sensing additives were developed. They have been proven to respond to the occurrence of corrosion, either showing significant change of colour or amplifying magnetic signal. Thin coatings were developed as matrix to embed these sensing additives. Both lab and field test demonstrated that the new sensing system is able to detect corrosion of steel at early stage successfully. Most of the nano additives and selected active species exhibit low toxicity towards marine species, while the toxicity of the coatings varies from coating systems with one coating showed low toxicity to marine organisms. The promising project results have been disseminated in peer reviewed journals and international conferences. SMARTAQUA is a collaboration of University of Aveiro (Portugal), SINTEF (Norway) and AquaBiotech Group (Malta) R&D project in the MarTERA cofund scheme of Horizon 2020, co-funded by FCT RCN, MCST in the the MarTERA cofund scheme of Horizon 2020.

The project results enabled partners to build competences towards maritime activities and industrial applications of sensor technologies, further establish their roles on the forefront of surface technologies, materials design and monitoring/sensing nanotechnologies. The partners also gained knowledge and experience in understanding material microstructure, properties, and performance to predict and optimize corrosion inhibition. The SMARTAQUA partners will be able to create additional research projects in maritime fields such as aquaculture and corrosion protection which will be economically beneficial for them to became world leading organizations in fields such as ocean space, micro- and nanotechnology. The promising results will probably be done by collaboration with existing SMEs with upscaling capabilities in the frame of different collaborations. SMARTAQUA results will also enable industries to create new jobs and will contribute to the improvement of life quality.

Corrosion is a result of thermodynamically-driven processes which occur due to the interaction of active metal alloys with the surrounding environment, leading to the degradation of metallic structures. This problem is particularly relevant in offshore structures due to particularly aggressive conditions such as high salinity and humidity. Although there are several methods to monitor the condition of structures in service-life, most of them are complex, expensive and above all do not provide direct information regarding the real condition of the underlying substrate. The main goal of SMARTAQUA is to develop a sensing nanolayer applied directly on steel structures, to provide cost-effective, reliable means of detecting corrosion degradation. The sensing will be achieved by incorporation of smart additives which are responsive to the local conditions verified close at the metal substrate, combining colorimetric with magnetic detection to monitor the overall integrity of the structure. The additives to be developed are based upon inorganic and organic hosting structures for controlled release of optically active species such as pH indicators and magnetic nanoparticles. SMARTAQUA consortium is composed of three partners from EU countries with strong coastal activities, namely University of Aveiro (Portugal), SINTEF (Norway) and AquaBiotech (Malta). These partners combine complementary expertise in fields such as materials science, surface engineering, coating technology and ecotoxicology and cover different sectors, from academia to research institutes and SMEs. The expected output of SMARAQUA is a new generation of sensing nanostructured layers that will be applied in different structures to monitor corrosion degradation. Ultimately, it will have an impact in different economic sectors associated to Blue Growth, from local aquaculture and floating fish farm facilities to windmills, but also in more traditional sectors such as oil platforms and ship industry.