New Coating Coating Technology Stands Out

The Northwest Pacific National Laboratory (PN-NL) developed a simple and inexpensive solution deposition titanium oxide coating process. The solution deposition process was originally developed to prevent ultraviolet light from damaging polymer components under normal light exposure. It has now been found to be applicable to any titanium oxide coating process. The PNNL coating process uses a titanium chelate solution. After it is decomposed, titanium oxide film can be deposited on the surface, which is simple and inexpensive, has a wide range of uses, and is fast. Most of the articles can be coated in 40 minutes at 40 to 100°C, and the film can be treated at temperatures close to 400°C to form a single phase of titanium oxide.

The new technology developed by Japan's Ulvac Company can form polyimide coatings with anti-microbial properties of 1 to 2 μm. The new technology can be used on substrates with complex geometries formed by the vapor deposition copolymerization of 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid (DBA) and pyromellitic anhydride (PMDA) with two monomers (DBA: PMDA molar ratio). About 1:1) into a vacuum box of the Ulvac Vapor Deposition Polymerization Equipment (named VEP-3000), which has coated parts that work at about 200°C. When the substrate is heated to about 200[deg.] C., a uniform polyimide interpolymer coating is formed at a rate of about 1 [mu]m/h and can even be formed within the pores of the ceramic material. After 24 hours, the polyimide coating showed a great reduction in activity against bacteria.

The University of Kocaeli in Turkey has developed a simple and inexpensive method for preparing highly hydrophobic waterproof coatings from isotactic polypropylene (iPP). This technique uses a solvent treatment step to produce a gel-like iPP coating with a rough surface that resembles a waterproof lotus leaf. This coating can be applied to the surfaces of glass, metal, textiles and many other materials. The iPP was first dissolved in p-xylene and a non-solvent such as cyclohexanone, isopropanol or methyl ethyl ketone was added to generate a gel. The mixture is applied to the surface of the material and the solvent evaporates to form the coating. Controlling the processing conditions can control the size and distribution of the crystals, and can increase the roughness of the polymer surface to make it less likely to adsorb water droplets. This iPP coating has been successfully applied to glass and aluminum and stainless steel materials, they can also be used on plastic surfaces, including PE, conventional PP and PTFE.