Garbage turns into armor: metallurgy waste has become the basis for protecting metals from corrosion

In Kazakhstan, the metallurgy industry is taking a step toward a future where waste is transformed into treasure. Scientists at the National Center on Complex Processing of Mineral Raw Materials have created prototypes of protective coatings from gaseous fumes - products of the electric smelting of ore from the Shalkiya deposit. This isn't just recycling: the biochemistry of sulfuric acid leaching liberates zinc, and the physics of electrolysis creates a dense corrosion barrier, like natural armor that has evolved over millions of years under environmental pressure.

Traditional coatings require pure zinc from salts like ZnSO4, but new ones use raw materials containing 25–30% metal directly from waste. Reactant savings reach 40%, and waste doesn't accumulate. The physics of the process resembles lightning in a bottle: electrons transfer zinc ions to the surface, creating a micrometer-thick layer that is more resistant to rust than its predecessors.

The anthropology of materials teaches us that just as humans domesticated fire, waste - a byproduct of smelting - becomes the basis for composites with titanium dioxide or copper. Corrosion resistance increases three to tenfold, paving the way for a circular economy where production feeds itself.

Source: pravda.ru