Sustainable, Smart and Functional Coatings by Axcentive

TAGS:   Automotive Coatings    Smart Coatings    Sustainability / Natural Coatings 

An Interview with Arno Schut, Innovation Manager at Axcentive to discuss new technologies for smart & functional coatings

Axcentive offers a wide range of innovative chemicals to customers to support their needs in coatings and related markets. Lately, nanotechnology and functional materials have been developed for smart and functional coatings. These coatings bring surface functionalities such as extreme water repellence, self-cleaning, antifogging, antimicrobial, anti-graffiti, superhydrophobic, anticorrosion, or easy to clean properties.

Nanotechnology forms the basis of the EXOCOAT® portfolio. The EXOCOAT® range is based on various technology platforms:

• Nanoparticles for superhydrophobic coatings.
• Organometallic nanopolymer for easy to clean coatings for metal and glass.
• Nano-TiO₂ sol for self-cleaning coatings.
• Advanced sol-gel technology for functional coatings (anticorrosive conversion coatings, modifiers for organic coatings).

Let us now hear from Arno Schut, Innovation manager at Axcentive about the technologies for smart and functional coatings.

#1. Can you tell us about the history of Axcentive and how it began producing materials for the coatings industry?

Axcentive has a long history in producing additives for the coating industry. Already in the 40-ties and 50-ties of 1900s, Dr. Ketjen laid the foundation of the Ketjenflex® range of plasticizing additives for plastics and coatings. This range has grown ever since and still is an important pillar of the Axcentive business.

Since 2015, we are actively engaged in smart coatings based on nanomaterials today marketed under the name of EXOCOAT®. The EXOCOAT® business includes everything we do in smart and functional coatings. The market can roughly be split in business of ready to use products for applicators and the OEM industry and nanoparticles for paint and coating formulators.

#2. Axcentive emphasis a lot on “sustainable research and innovation” in their developments. Can you elaborate on some of your efforts in this area?

In our value proposition of smart and functional coatings, sustainability is in fact automatically a leading factor. Our technology of self-cleaning coatings reduces the use of cleaning agents which is especially important in the field where waste waters cannot be recycled or reused. Thanks to our self-cleaning coatings, solar panels need less maintenance and moreover can produce up to 3% more power.

We have developed a real antigraffiti coating to which tag does not stick. Instead of using harmful chemicals to remove the graffiti as is done with traditional epoxy or polyurethane coatings, our coating technology is developed such that tag can be removed with a dry or wet cloth or just by using high pressure water without affecting the performance of the antigraffiti layer.

#3. How does Axcentive inculcate nanotechnology in EXOCOAT® that make them “smart”?

It is true that nanotechnology forms the basis of our developments. The fascinating part about nanotechnology is that properties of the materials dramatically improve at nanoscale. Why are nanoparticles considered so important? While the particle size decreases, the surface area increases and starts to dominate the properties. It therefore can give extreme hardness, excellent surface tension properties or superb crosslinking abilities. For example, we have modified organic resins with rubbery behavior into hard coating compounds (6H pencil hardness) introducing nanotechnology. Nanotechnology allows for leapfrog improvements in properties. Since nanoparticles only constitute from several molecules these properties can be designed from the chemical drawing table.


Related Read: "Sol-Gel Based Nanotechnology Solutions for Advanced Smart and Functional Coatings"

#4. What are some special features of EXOCOAT® products?

Nanomaterials can be made from various precursors to obtain certain smart and functional performances. In the EXOCOAT® range we focus on:

• Ceramic materials that form thin but durable layers with easy to clean, oleophobic, and superhydrophobic properties.
• Photocatalytic materials with self-cleaning and antimicrobial properties.
• Organometallic materials as anticorrosion conversion coatings used as chrome replacement.

Moreover, since we have been present in the specialty chemicals for decades, our company can rely on strong quality assurance.

#5. What kind of market applications can EXOCOAT® serve? How are they superior to other traditional materials?

Let us take the example of hydrophobicity. If you desire to produce a coating with hydrophobic properties, traditional (resin) technology will not get you far. Easy to clean and antigraffiti coatings with surface energies lower than 20 dynes/cm can only be made using specific technology. Our nanotechnology-based products are truly nonstick to dirt and tag yet form a very durable strong coating with excellent scratch resistance and adhesion properties. Though 30-fold thinner than traditional coatings the same durability may be expected.



Another example we would like to share is: today we are not aware of any traditional technology that shows self-cleaning properties. Our technology forms an invisible self-cleaning layer that acts in two distinct ways:

1. On the surface of the coating, radicals are produced from moist and oxygen in the air that actively breakdown organic dirt and debris.
2. The self-cleaning coating becomes superhydrophilic upon activation by light and therefore shows a water sheeting effect upon rain showers and when rinsed with a water hose. This water sheeting effect runs down inorganic species from the surface.

#6. How do you anticipate the future of coatings industry in terms of adapting smart coatings more easily and effectively?

Smart and functional coatings are gaining momentum presently and further adoption will come when more cross-fertilization takes place among industries. With EXOCOAT®, we focus on the early adopters. For example, in the automotive industry, car-care companies and body shops were the first to adopt ceramic, easy to clean coatings. Today, we see the newer car brands are promoting this feature and we expect this to spread in the industry in the coming years with a large acceptance of easy to clean coatings. In the end, the customer and environment benefits which be the driving force for smart and functional coatings.

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About Arno Schut

Arno Schut graduated from the Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. After having served in several research roles, he joined an acquisition of Elementis Specialties as Technical Manager for the Coating Additives in 2000. There he developed various functional additives for the coating industry based on polymer and natural sourced chemistries.

He was part of the Univar CASE group for several years as European technical manager which gave him a great overview of the coating market, the raw materials used, and organometallic chemistry in particular. Arno joined the French company Axcentive as Innovation manager in 2012 to develop technologies for smart and functional coatings.

Being simultaneously part of the business development side of the company he got a clear sense of the market demand and precise technology needs. These insights supported to create successful development product-based sol-gel and preceramic nanotechnology for smart and functional coatings.

This technology base allows for chemical modifications on nano level to suite a certain performance need. Smart and functional coatings with specific properties such as self-cleaning, easy to clean, anticorrosive or corrosive sensing, antimicrobial, color shifting, superhydrophobic, or superhydrophilic properties can be produced with nanotechnology.

Fields of Expertise: Nanotechnology, Sol-gel chemistry, Organometallic chemistry, Photocatalytic coatings, Smart/functional coatings, and Organic coatings and Coatings market.