Independent research shows that a safer, smarter corrosion inhibitor can protect products for up to ten times longer – thanks to innovative new company, Hexigone - plugging the performance gap for an effective, chrome-free inhibitor.  

Corrosion costs the world economy 2.5 trillion dollars every year, and in January 2019, the EU banned its most effective inhibitor, hexavalent chromate. Hexigone Inhibitors’ disruptive technology – Intelli-ion® - swaps chromate for ‘chemically intelligent’ pigments, offering a completely unique approach to tackling corrosion. The result? Coatings that can protect end-products for up to ten times longer than chrome-free alternatives.

The research was carried out by a global leader in industrial coatings, and following 1,000 hours of aggressive prohesion, salt spray and humidity (4000 hours) testing, the Intelli-ion®  product displayed 1mm of corrosion versus 10mm in the control sample (see figure 2).

CEO and Founder of Hexigone Inhibitors, Patrick Dodds, commented:

“Following really exciting results in the labs, these were the results we were anticipating from our industry partners. We moved our research away from mainstream thinking, and as a result, can use chemicals that were previously incompatible with coatings. Now, we are offering a potentially game-changing inhibitor to the coatings industry; a higher performing product that can be easily added to existing production processes, at a price that matches the market.”

Intelli-ion uses ‘chemically intelligent’ micro reservoirs that make the coatings responsive to the environment. Sensing conditions on the spot, they respond by triggering the release of their inhibitor, delivering ‘on demand’ protection or self-healing of the material. This method of protection allows coatings to protect metals for longer, which in turn saves money through reduced maintenance and waste.

The company has not gone unnoticed…Hexigone’s ‘strong science’ and commercial potential has recently secured investment from Development Bank of Wales and angel investors, Phil Buck and Andy Lewis, as well as an innovation loan from Innovate UK; totalling over £1 million. The team is already working with 20 industry partners across 4 continents and the extra financial boost; along with support from investment expert Owen Sennitt and AgorIP; will allow them to accelerate scale-up and provide the coatings industry a safer, smarter way to tackle corrosion.

Phil Buck, former CEO of Spencer Coatings Group, commented:

“In my forty years in the industry, we have been searching for a comparable anti-corrosion pigment that delivers the same results as lead and chromate complexes. None of the new developments have given that. Now at last we have a corrosion inhibitor that provides the level of performance that our clients need to protect their assets from premature failure. Hexigone is now able to offer the corrosion industry what they have been looking for – a search which has spanned a generation.”