High-throughput method for preparing anticorrosion coatings

A method for preparing anticorrosion coatings, comprising the steps of:

• treating surfaces of sample substrates to be coated by removing oxide layers, and placing the treated substrates on specimen fixture trays;
• determining solution data based on types and composition ranges of corrosion inhibitors planned for anticorrosion coating preparation;
• preparing solutions based on the solution data, adding the solutions to designated test tubes using an anticorrosion coating preparation platform, and thoroughly mixing with primer coats to obtain coating solutions;
• dispensing the formulated coating solutions onto the surfaces of the sample substrates to be coated using a pipette, and applying coatings using a coating application robotic arm integrated in the anticorrosion coating preparation platform;
• transferring the applied sample substrates to an ultraviolet (UV) radiation station, and performing irradiation by selecting different wavelengths and times corresponding to specific liquids to achieve thermal curing of anticorrosion coatings;
• and
• removing the specimen fixture trays from the UV radiation station upon completion of irradiation, and transferring the entire specimen fixture tray to a designated position using a gantry robotic arm, finalizing the preparation of the anticorrosion coatings;
• the anticorrosion coating preparation platform comprising a stock solution bottle loading assembly, a robot motion assembly, a roll-coating gantry assembly, and a control assembly, wherein
• the robot motion assembly comprises a liquid handling robotic arm, a roll-coating robotic arm, an uncapping robotic arm, and a robotic vision monitoring system;
• the robotic vision monitoring system is capable of determining the necessity of ion spraying surface treatment operations based on assessment of coating spreading behaviors across the surfaces of the sample substrates;
• the liquid handling robotic arm comprises a clamp hand assembly, pipettes, a pipette tip rack, and a vortex mixer, and the pipette comprises a single-row pipette configuration capable of simultaneously aspirating distinct solutions;
• or alternatively, allowing independent aspiration of distinct solutions or identical solutions through peripheral channels within the single-row pipette;
• the roll-coating robotic arm is capable of determining a coating application method from roller coating, drop coating, or spray coating under the control of the robotic vision monitoring system and the control assembly, based on solution fluidity characteristics;
• and
• the roll-coating gantry assembly comprises a roll-coating gantry, a roll-coating electric gripper, a hollow rotating platform, a laser displacement sensor, a camera, roll-coating trays, a roller rack, and UV curing assemblies, and the roll-coating gantry, the laser displacement sensor, the camera and the roll-coating electric gripper are electrically connected to the control assembly;
• and
• manual placement of roll-coating trays and rollers at fixed positions is performed, followed by moving the roll-coating gantry above a target tray;
• each roll-coating tray position is determined using the laser displacement sensor, and quick response (QR) code scanning is performed by the camera to register the roll-coating tray;
• after reagent dispensing by the liquid handling robotic arm, the rollers are clamped by the roll-coating gantry;
• the presence of rollers at a roll-coating station is determined using sensors, and roller coating is performed following roller clamping by the roll-coating electric gripper;
• and upon completion, the rollers are transferred to an unloading station.