This week, Peter Visser, PhD Candidate in the Corrosion Technology and Electrochemistry group of Professor Arjan Mol, received the award from AkzoNobel CEO Thierry Vanlancker for his contributions to the understanding of corrosion. With this award, Peter was recognized for his efforts connecting the science from his academic work with the product development activities in AkzoNobel, resulting in a range of chromate-free primers for the aerospace industry.

In 2013, Peter joined Delft University of Technology as PhD researcher in addition to his work in AkzoNobel to investigate the lithium-leaching chromate-free coating technology that was developed by AkzoNobel. In this project Peter investigated the lithium-leaching coating technology to obtain fundamental knowledge and understanding about the active protective mechanism when lithium salts are used as leachable corrosion inhibitor for the protection of aerospace aluminium alloys. In this project Peter has been collaborating with AkzoNobel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the University of Manchester. Peter’s defense of his thesis with the title “Active corrosion protection of aerospace aluminium alloys by lithium-leaching coatings” is planned for April 2019.