The corrosion of iron and its alloys result in a yearly loss of billions of dollars. The use of heavy metals and heavy metal based anti-corrosive compounds in organic coatings has been known for decades. However, environmental reasons and health concerns have restricted or even banned the use of these compounds. Previous research showed that exopolysaccharides made by microorganisms exerted anti-corrosive properties. Especially, homopolysaccharides showed interesting results for the protection of steel. In this paper the use of EPS in anti-corrosive primers is described. Besides the effect on the anti-corrosive performance of coatings, also the distribution of EPS throughout a coating will be discussed as this is expected to be essential for effectiveness of EP as anti-corrosive additive.
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