As a major manufacturing country, China’s annual consumption of chemicals is steadily increasing; if the environmental friendliness of these chemicals is not given due attention, the resulting environmental harm could be substantial. The coatings industry, as a large consumer of chemicals, naturally uses vast quantities of metal surface treatment agents. Appliances, automobiles, electroplating, enamel coating, electrophoretic coating, and spray painting all rely heavily on such agents. Although traditional phosphating agents are technologically mature, their environmental impact has grown increasingly severe: the widespread use of phosphorus-containing degreasers and phosphating agents has led to significant phosphorus pollution. Phosphorus is an essential element for the growth of all living organisms; it can trigger explosive algal blooms, which in turn promote the rapid proliferation of bacteria in lakes. Moreover, phosphorus is a lethal threat to fish and even entire lake ecosystems: the massive bacterial blooms deplete dissolved oxygen in the water, causing oxygen-dependent fish to suffocate and die.

Phosphating agents contain heavy metals and carcinogenic substances (such as chromium, nickel, and sodium nitrite), and prolonged use of phosphating bath solutions leads to the accumulation of large amounts of phosphating sludge, which is extremely difficult to treat. Therefore, it is essential to address these issues at the source, making the use of a new, environmentally friendly treatment agent—ceramizing agent—of paramount importance. This agent is formulated without phosphorus, chromium, nickel, or nitrogen; its reaction byproducts are slag-free; the process is simple, can be carried out at room temperature, requires low acidity, and produces effluent that is easy to treat and discharge, posing no harm to the environment.

Ceramic conversion coatings are a new, low-energy, high-performance, environmentally friendly product based on a composite formulation of silanes, zirconium salts, and silane–zirconium complexes. When combined with special film-forming additives, they can be applied to the surfaces of steel, zinc sheets, and aluminum materials for chemical treatment, resulting in the formation of a hybrid, poorly soluble, nanoscale ceramic conversion coating. This ceramic conversion coating exhibits excellent corrosion resistance and impact resistance, while also enhancing the adhesion of subsequent coatings. Importantly, the coating formation process requires no heating, and no sludge is generated in the plating bath.