EonCoat: Durable Corrosion Resistance with No VOCs or Primer

EonCoat and EonCoat HT (for high-temperature applications) are waterborne, ceramic, corrosion-resistant coatings made for commercial or industrial use on steel, though they can also be used on aluminum, masonry, wood, wallboard, and other materials. Unlike most corrosion-resistant coatings, Eoncoat contains no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hazardous airborne pollutants (HAPs), or toxic heavy metals such as chromium, cadmium, or cobalt. Yet it appears to offer protection far exceeding that of traditional coatings. And, in a fascinating twist, the basic ingredients in it are phosphoric acid and milk of magnesia.

According to company CEO Tony Collins, EonCoat is the culmination of 15 years of research by the U.S. Department of Energy at Argonne National Laboratory directed toward shielding radioactive waste, plus three years of combined research between EonCoat and Argonne to develop more widely applicable coatings. Applied with a spray gun, this two-part coating—part A is phosphoric acid (a ubiquitous soft-drink ingredient) and part B magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia)—is mixed in the spray valve during application. Prior to application, metal surfaces require only brushing or a power wash rather than sanding down to bare metal. And EonCoat does not require a primer, since it reacts with, and stabilizes, the surface of metals and then builds a ceramic surface on top of that layer. It dries in a few minutes to an eggshell finish and can be tinted with mineral pigment tints.