Who we are
Patrick Keil
It's every car owner's nightmare: their car is rusting. In the past, this was a common phenomenon after just a few years and even had its own name – the “rust bucket.” Today, heavily rusted cars are less common. This is partly thanks to people like Patrick. He is a researcher at BASF Coatings GmbH and plays a key role in ensuring that corrosion protection works properly on cars.
In addition to corrosion protection through coatings, Patrick's research includes corrosion inhibitors. These are chemical substances that increase the corrosion resistance of metals and alloys. Corrosion inhibitors can work in various ways, for example, by forming a protective passivation layer on the metal surface that reduces contact with corrosive environments such as water and oxygen. Are you interested? Here, Patrick tells us more about his research, and why corrosion protection makes an important contribution to sustainability.
It's obvious in cars, but where else is corrosion protection important in everyday life?
Corrosion is a term encompassing much more than what we commonly understand as "rusting." Rusting is the process by which iron and its alloys, such as steel, are degraded by chemical reactions with oxygen and water, in turn leading to the formation of iron oxides and hydroxides, which we know as reddish-shimmering rust. Other metals exhibit different forms of metal corrosion. Corrosion is a Latin word that simply means "to decompose" or "to eat away." Basically, any measurable change in a material caused by its environment is corrosion. This includes decomposing rock or, in medicine, of tissue.
One of the first “modern” corrosion inhibitors invented by humans was chromate-containing solutions or the use of lead-containing pigments. However, both chromate-containing solutions and lead-containing pigments were classified as extremely harmful to humans and the environment and are now largely banned. This is a huge driving force for industry. Products that actually work well are subject to regulatory scrutiny and are then either no longer usable or only usable to a limited extent.
We are therefore constantly on the lookout for new concepts that work well and are also environmentally friendly and sustainable.
What are the major milestones in the field of corrosion protection and what are you working on today?
There have been quite a few breakthroughs and milestones in this field over the past 45 years. Examples include the introduction of galvanized steel, phosphating, and electrodeposition coating in the automotive industry, which paved the way for completely chromate-free treatment, and the introduction of water-based paints.
Today's corrosion protection concepts are more complex and highly application specific. Whereas in the past, chromates could be used almost anywhere as a universal solution. Today, advanced multi-component systems are often used, which work together to provide the necessary corrosion protection. Apart from that, the approach to developing a new product used to be completely different. Back then, there was a lot of trial and error, followed by design of experiment approaches, but today we make extensive use of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). We analyze historical data from previous research, chemical properties, and test results. With the help of ML, AI can recognize patterns to help researchers and developers predict which chemical compounds are most promising for inhibiting metal corrosion. In addition, we simulate the interactions between inhibitors and various materials in different complex environments without the need for time-consuming corrosion tests. This accelerates the development process and leads to more effective and sustainable solutions tailored to the requirements of specific applications and environments. This also includes keeping an eye on the future of industry and anticipating trends. We launched a project for corrosion inhibitors several years ago. This has resulted in a concept in which we can use ML to search more quickly for the right inhibitor for a specific application in collaboration with central research, the business units, and university partners. These inhibitors are ultimately used in various business areas at BASF.
How exactly does corrosion protection contribute to sustainability?
Corrosion protection is an essential aspect of sustainability. Without suitable protective mechanisms, many of our everyday objects would not exist. Everyone knows how quickly untreated steel rusts. Take a car, a smartphone, or a bridge, for example. We use all these things every day. Without protection, they would corrode in a relatively short time and must be repaired or even replaced. Good corrosion protection ideally prevents or usually slows down the process enormously. For our car, this means the better the corrosion protection, the longer the service life of the car’s bodywork – and that is sustainable.
But corrosion protection also scores points in the field of carbon management. Every year, huge quantities of steel are produced, most of which must be protected. According to our current logic, we would describe corrosion protection products such as paints or passivation as “extend the loop” products, as they protect an object and thus significantly extend its service life. According to a publication by Mariano Iannuzzi and Gerald Frankel in npj Materials Degradation, the CO2 footprint of corroded steel is estimated at up to 300-700 Mt/a. Corrosion protection therefore gives us considerable leverage when it comes to extending the service life of products. The use of modern corrosion protection can further reduce the CO2 footprint of a product. The topic of circular economy is also central here, as steel is a valuable commodity that is recycled and reused.
How does corrosion protection affect CO2 consumption?
Last year, around two gigatons of steel were produced worldwide. Two gigatons of steel means at least 3-4 gigatons of CO2 emissions during the manufacturing process. This figure is significantly lower for recycled and green steel. But a significant proportion of the steel was produced to replace corroded steel. This shows that the technologies we use every day have a huge impact on actively shaping sustainability.
What topics does your daily work cover?
My tasks are extremely varied and require a deep understanding of metallic materials, surface treatments, and coatings in general. This includes, for example, corrosion inhibitors, pretreatment and protective coating technologies, and the analysis of damage patterns. However, I also see myself as a bit of an interface between our customers on one hand and the academic world on the other. It is often the case that our customers encounter persistent trends or unresolved challenges. My job is to listen and then question what I hear, bring it into an academic environment, and find a solution.
A few years ago, for example, magnesium materials were a big topic in lightweight construction. However, with the help of a collaboration with academia, we discovered a new corrosion mechanism we were not familiar with and for which we currently have no antidote. With this pre-competitive expertise, we were then able to advise our customers accordingly. We are thoroughly working on a solution. . And it is precisely these technical limitations that ultimately help us progress, as our research starts exactly there and challenges us to think outside the box. That is what motivates me in my work.
