Inorganic-organic hybrid coatings with mixed metal oxides

Ceramer coatings were developed using soybean oil as the organic phase with mixtures of titanium(IV) isopropoxide (TIP) and zirconium(IV) propoxide (Z RP) as the inorganic phase. TIP was also used in combination with zinc acet ate dihydrate and zinc phosphate, with the zinc serving as an anticorrosive agent. The properties of the coatings were evaluated to determine whether a beneficial synergistic effect is obtained by using muted metal oxides as the inorganic phase. Hardness, adhesion, flexibility, impact resistance, fr acture toughness, tensile properties, and dynamic mechanical properties wer e investigated. Ultraviolet spectroscopy revealed that the zinc acetate dih ydrate and the zinc phosphate react with the sol-gel precursor of the inorg anic phase. Beneficial synergistic effects were observed in tensile modulus , fracture toughness, and the energy release rate at fracture for equal-wei ght-percent mixtures of TIP and ZRP. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.