Increasing attention is given to waterborne coatings for corrosion protection due to the lower ecological impact on the environment. It has been found that by using waterborne coatings, the emission of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is reduced by more than 50 g/L. However, they require longer drying time, their anti-corrosion performance is not as good as solvent-borne coatings and they still have not been developed for all corrosion environments. Another way to reduce VOCs is by using infrared (IR) drying technology. With catalytic infrared radiation, it is possible to cure all surfaces at notably reduced costs compared to traditional systems and in total respect for the environment, thanks to significant energy savings and minimal CO2 emissions. The aim of this paper was to evaluate corrosion protective properties of waterborne coatings which were dried with traditional and accelerated drying techniques, i.e., under atmospheric conditions and by using IR technology. Two different coating systems were applied, with and without Zn in the primer. To achieve this goal, the test samples were subjected to electrochemical, corrosion, and physical tests. It was shown that infrared technology does not affect the quality of the coating and it drastically reduces the intercoating interval. A coating system with zinc in the primer showed better overall protection properties after being subjected to impedance and salt spray testing, but generally, solvent-borne coatings still have higher durability than waterborne in extreme marine conditions according to recent research. Microstructure and porosity remained intact and the atomic force microscope confirmed that the flash-off was conducted correctly since there were no pinholes and blisters detected on the coating’s surface. This study can serve as a foundation for further investigations of IC-dried waterborne coatings because there are not many at the moment.

Protecting metal surfaces with organic coatings is one of the most common ways of corrosion protection. The main goal of coating is to insulate the base of the material from the corrosive environment in order to provide long lasting protection. The aim of this research is to show how different coating applications in combination with different drying methods affect the coating surface topography. Two different two-component primers were also observed, one containing zinc in its chemical composition and the other one not, to see if zinc had any effect on the surface topography. The surface topography of coatings is examined by the atomic force microscope. At the nano level, the surface condition is quantitatively described by areal topography parameters, also known as 3D roughness parameters. An accelerated laboratory test in the salt spray chamber was performed to compare topography parameters and evaluate which coating system had the slightest differences in observed parameters before and after exposure to a corrosive environment. All the results were statistically processed and presented.