Abstract

Food cans are made of tinplates coated with a sanitary lacquer as a protection layer, which acts again corrosion by the media. In order to evaluate the degradation of aluminum- and gold-plated epoxy-phenolic coatings found in traditional tinplates and electrolytic chrome-coated steel plates (ECCS) co-rolled with polyethylene teraphthalate (PET) used as canning materials in food products, an immersion procedure in a special device containing an acetic-acetate medium was performed during a 12-month period. The influence of the porosity of polymer coatings on the physicochemical interactions at an interface level between the metal substrates and protection films of tinplates was analyzed by standardized tests. The damage morphology on both inmersed tinplates and the intensity of the attack in function metal ion migration in the solution were characterized. The results showed that the existence of pores and surface defects influences the quality of the coatings. ©Freund Publishing House Ltd.