Weather-Resistant Organosilicate Coatings with Improved Water Resistance

Currently, composites based on glass fibers and epoxy resins are successfully used to produce various structural elements. Such structures often serve under extreme conditions of both the Far North and the tropics, with such conditions having a destructive effect on the materials causing degradation of their properties. In this case, water resistance is an important characteristic of the materials. One of the ways to protect such materials is the use of organosilicate coatings (OSCs) obtained on the basis of organosilicon varnishes and highly dispersed hydrosilicates. This article presents the results of laboratory studies and field tests carried out in areas with very cold, as well as tropical savannah and subequatorial climates, of composite and metallic materials protected with OSCs. The objects of the studies are OSCs based on a binder, KO-921 varnish modified with the aim to improve weather resistance, primarily, moisture resistance, with poly(dimethylsiloxane) and epoxy resin. Water absorption, contact angle, and hardness of OSCs have been studied as depending on the composition of the polymer binders, and the optimal concentrations of the precursors have been determined. The results of field tests have shown that the developed OSCs retain their water-repellent properties during long-term exposure in different climatic conditions, thereby confirming their applicability to protecting various materials under the conditions of both tropics and the Far North.