The Characterization of Beetroot Pigment as Surface Coating

Abstract

The study of beetroot pigment as a surface coating for protection layer on piping plant application was carried out to replace the common chemical coating with organic pigments to enhance the sustainability and environmental impact and to provide potential savings in terms of costs without giving up strength and increases the aesthetic appeal. In this study, natural pigment is commonly found in beetroots or beets and can be extracted using normal filtration process after blending the beetroot into smaller particles. There is also ready-made beetroot powder, which was used in this particular study. The process of using beetroot pigments were found the effects of mechanical and physical properties of the coating. The formulation of beetroot pigment has different concentration of 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%. This different concentration of pigment was synthesized with 250ml solvent and 12.5ml hardener to form superhydrophobic coating. The results of water droplet test (ASTM D5964) showed that superhydrophobic characteristics was achieved the water contact angle measurement. In this case, the ideal coating for self-cleaning characteristic is up to 80% concentration of beetroot pigment with the average contact angles of 141°,140° and 137° for 3, 6 and 9 layers, respectively. Based on the scratch resistance test, the coating showed the best resistance are 60% and 80% concentration for all three varied layers. For adhesion test, the coating with 60% and 80% beetroot pigment concentration showed the best and optimum adhesion between the coating and substrate. It was revealed that the beetroot pigment can be applied on surface coating to reduce the amount of a harmful chemical.