PhD Thesis Colloquium: Mr. Kuntal Sarkar (ERP) (18/05/26)
Thesis title:
Development of Polyimide composite coating on steel for corrosion protection
Faculty advisor(s):
Prof. Suryasarathi Bose and Dr. Tapan Kumar Rout (Tata Steel Ltd.)
When?
18th May, 2026 (Monday), 11:00 AM (India Standard Time)
Where
KPA Auditorium, Department of Materials Engineering
Abstract
Steel is majorly used in construction, automotive, appliances and engineering sectors due to its higher mechanical properties, machinability, and lower cost. However, corrosion of steel is a natural phenomenon that deteriorates it over time, especially during transportation and storage from steel manufacturer (e.g., Tata Steel Ltd.) to the customer end. Temporary corrosion protective layer of rust preventive (RP) oil is provided to protect steel during transportation and storage. This RP oil coated steel is then formed in various shapes and joined (mainly by welding) to make different components as per customer’s final product requirements (e.g., furniture, fan blade, electrical panels, etc.). Thereafter, these components go through several steps of degreasing (to clean surface oils, dirt and grease) followed by phosphating (to make the steel surface ready for painting) process and painting. This thesis titled “Development of Polyimide composite coating on steel for corrosion protection” targets to develop a single-layer polymeric coating on steel, which is superior in terms of corrosion resistance, formable, will directly be paintable and thereby replace the several steps of application of RP oil (at steel manufacturer’s end) and phosphating (at customer end). This thesis presents a synthesis of various polyimide polymers via condensation polymerization in an inert atmosphere. These polyimide polymers were applied over steel coupon samples to enhance corrosion resistance and formability. Several reinforcing particles like PANI@CeO2, CNT, glass fiber (GF) was also incorporated into the polyimide coating matrix to prepare composite coatings of enhanced corrosion resistance. This work also provides in-depth insights into corrosion mechanisms of various polyimide (pure as well as composite) coatings on steel.