Posted at: 22 March 2012 11:55:00 | Posted by: Natallia Abraztsova, Vincentz Network More than protection
I’m still very fascinated about the topic of functional coatings. Today it is normal, that coatings are anti-ice, anti-scratch, self-healing, water-repellent, - in other words they are multifunctional. But what does "multifunctional” actually mean?
Posted at: 22 December 2011 14:49:00 | Posted by: Natallia Abraztsova, Vincentz Network Durability of the effect
Recently I’ve attended our Conference "Automotive Coatings” in Berlin. I was pleasantly surprised about lively discussions by participants. One of the topics responding to a great deal of interest was a theme of smart coatings. According to the experts, the industrial need for smart coatings is in the fields of self-healing, anti-finger-print, easy-to-clean, stability to UV-light and low energy (reflecting light). The advantage of such coatings is obvious: more performance properties make a coating attractive for a number of special applications. But what about the durability of the effect? I think the durability of the functional coatings is the most important issue to research and to work on.
Posted at: 2 September 2011 11:56:00 | Posted by: Prof. Rigoberto Advincula, University of Houston, USA Functional Polymer Films
A new book by me and Wolfgang Knoll of the Austrian Institute of Technology has recently been published by Wiley-VCH. It is entitled "Functional Polymer Films". This is a treatise and collection of specific topics dealling with nanostructured and macromolecular coatings or simply ultrathin films. The topics include polymer brushes, layer-by-layer films, Langmuir-Blodgett films, vapor deposition, block copolymers, and self-assembled monolayers.
Posted at: 8 June 2011 11:52:00 | Posted by: Prof. Rigoberto Advincula, University of Houston, USA Biodegradable Coatings
Biodegradable Coatings seem to be a misnomer or a contradication of terms. After all, the term coatings is meant to protect the bulk material from harmful effect of the environment. On the other hand, the other side of the coin is that a coating functions as a packaging material. That is it protects the environment from the effects of the bulk material.
Posted at: 19 May 2011 07:57:00 | Posted by: Prof. Rigoberto Advincula, University of Houston, USA Anti-corrosion and Anti-microbial
Corrosion is a big problem as recently discussed. Equally challengin is Biofilm formation on conducting materials (metal, metal alloys, metal oxides, and electrodes) which has emerged as a significant problem in the long-term use of coatings in the marine and industrial apparatus. Biofilm formation usually is followed by slication especially in seawage, marine and goethermal environments, Strategies for controlling bacterial colonization have focused on improving and developing antimicrobial materials and design to inhibit biofilm formation.
Posted at: 22 July 2010 15:54:00 | Posted by: Kirsten Wrede, Vincentz Network Clever and smart
In our editor's blog smart coatings are a frequently recurring topic. We have described exciting functional coatings, we have asked how "smart" these coatings really are, and we have been wondering how smart coatings can be defined after all. I guess it's best to say smart coatings are structured coatings which provide additional benefits by giving an appropriate response to outside conditions.
