Anticorrosion thin film smart coatings for aluminum alloys

Nowadays there is a strong incentive to replace pretreatments and thin-film technology that were used in the past for corrosion protection of high-performance alloys in a wide variety of industrial applications. This incentive is mainly driven by environmental concerns demanding new coating technologies capable of combining outstanding and long-term performance with environment friendliness. Over the past 10 years the development of so-called smart coatings has been pursued. This chapter discusses some of the new trends in thin film developments for corrosion protection of aluminum alloys used in transportation. Some of the state-of-the-art thin film industrial technologies have been discussed, followed by the latest developments concerning the use of hybrid sol–gel coatings, anodic films, layered double hydroxide conversion coatings, and chitosan biopolymers. In conclusion a critical assessment of these systems is presented, highlighting the challenges as well as considerations for future developments in the field of smart coatings.