Researchers recognised for self-healing coatings at IChemE Malaysia Awards 2020

Material scientists increase performance and extend life of pipelines and offshore infrastructure for a more sustainable future.

University of Adelaide, Environmental Institute researchers in collaboration with Deakin University and PETRONAS Research have won the prestigious Oil and Gas Award at the IChemE Malaysia Awards with the entry Metal Organic Framework as Self-healing Catalyst.

The IChemE Malaysia Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in various fields of chemical engineering and is an excellent avenue for teams, companies or individuals to have their projects recognised on an international platform.

Petronas Research have successfully developed a novel technology that is able to self-heal epoxy systems with a highly robust and reliable performance. It provides the assurance of materials integrity through autonomously healing the damage, in-situ during the system operation. These could lead to a longer service life of the materials, and cost avoidance for maintenance and inspection.

Most importantly, this technology offers a better performing and sustainable alternative by replacing the precious rare-earth-based catalyst, hence preserving Earth's resources. With an economically viable option, this technology has auspiciously addressed the main challenge of current microencapsulated self-healing technology, scaling-up.

These methods ensure the integrity of materials during operation, which could lead to longer service life of the materials and cost avoidance for maintenance and inspection by about 80 per cent.

Professor Varley said this win is a recognition of the novel and sustainable aspects of this research and showcases the importance of this technology for better futures.

"This technology developed in conjunction with PETRONAS and Professor Christian Doonan from the University of Adelaide, has the potential to extend service life, reduce consumption and improve resource efficiencies in infrastructure applications."

“We are excited to be working with PETRONAS to create new technologies which are helping them transition to a more sustainable future,” said Professor Varley.