Back to the catalog
Spinoff story
Zinc-Silicate Coating Blocks Corrosion
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
NASA chemists designed an anti-corrosion coating for metals and used it to protect launch structures at Kennedy Space Center from the tropical air as well as the temperature spikes of a rocket launch. Polymer manufacturer Polyset, of Mechanicville, New York, helped the original license holder for the coating make a key ingredient in the 1980s and is now producing the coating itself, for use in bridges, hydroelectric facilities, rail cars, and oil rigs.