Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Development of Protocols and Procedures to Improve the Assessment and Performance of Lacquers Used toProtect Aluminum Can End StockThis research program follows a successful Engage project with Novelis Inc. to develop electrochemicalmethods to assess the viability of coatings used to protect the inside of aluminium beverage cans. Novelis isthe global leader in aluminum rolled products and aluminum can recycling. In order to protect the aluminumcans from internal and external corrosion, they are covered in a protective lacquer film. The coatings need to beentirely defect-free in order to maintain product integrity during forming & fabrication, can filling, storage /transport and post sale. Electrochemical Impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a powerful technique that can detectflaws in coatings before they become catastrophic. The work performed during the Engage program by theCarleton University Corrosion group has shown that EIS can detect critical flaws and failures in the protectivecoatings that line the beverage cans. A key aim of the project is for the Carleton University Corrosion Group todevelop robust, quantitative means of applying specialist techniques, such as EIS and Electrochemical Noise(EN), to study, measure and monitor the performance and integrity of existing and emerging coating systemsfor aluminum. These techniques will then be transferred and incorporated in manufacturing processes atNovelis, where they will provide valuable means of testing new & alternative coatings. They will also form thebasis for new quality-assessment (QA) methods for manufacture in Novelis' various global operations.