Coatings & Surface Engineering News

A new service, based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, may speed development of technologies that require nanoscale engineering, such as biological coatings or tissue scaffolds. Referred to as XPS, the service uses X-rays to release electrons from the top atomic layers of a material. This, in turn, permits analysis of the layers beneath to validate composition, detect contamination, or identify imperfections in the manufacturing process. Unlike competing surface analysis procedures, XPS does not damage the material's surface.

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Antimicrobial materials have shown a limited ability to deliver microbe resistance as part of a comprehensive surface enhancement treatment — until now. General Magnaplate demonstrates how it's now possible to specify a single coating that resists microbe growth while protecting against friction, wear, moisture, chemical exposures, and more.

Visit us here to download the paper.

Lohmann Therapy Systems coating lines feature 14 independently controlled temperature zones that range from 86 F to 248 F, allowing for precise drying of your coatings and low residual solvents.

NiClipse™ is the most ductile acid zinc nickel alloy coating and is viable over numerous auto part applications, especially where post-plate fabrication is required. NiClipse™ is capable of plating controlled alloys for both 6-8% and 10-15% nickel requirements over hardened steel, malleable, and cast metals. Visit here for more information.

Are you still mixing formulas manually? Struggling with consistency? With our Volumetrix industrial-dispense equipment, you will get both unprecedented accuracy and speed. Capabilities: any number of formulas, any type of ingredients, any size batch, extremely accurate, extremely fast, and all modes of dispense. Visit us here.

A spray-on polymer nano-composite coating provides fire as well as blast protection thanks to 1) a thermally stable, flexible polyorganosiloxane macromolecule, and 2) functionalized ceramic nanoparticles that aid with dispersion. The new non-halogenated, eco-friendly, fireproofing coating recently won recognition from R&D magazine as one of 2011's top 100 products.

If you fly into California's San Jose airport, you may notice the new curved, perforated metal panels featured at Terminal B. The panels are the architectural debut of ultra-low-VOC powder coatings from PPG Industries. The coatings are based on the same polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) technology as the company's liquid coatings, with an environmentally-friendly twist that earned the airport LEED Silver certification.

High-performance polymer films are commonly used to protect conductive surfaces from oxidation. But as conductive products such as printed electronics get smaller and smaller, the thickness of these polymers pose a problem. Now, a finely-controlled deposition process can coat conductors with a thin, conformal coating of polyimide, making miniaturization easier.

New coatings are extremely durable and long-lasting, which makes removing them all the more difficult. Advances in three types of stripping — chemical, pyrolytic, and mechanical — have made it easier to strip all kinds of coatings from a wide variety of substrates. However, not all stripping processes are created equal. They vary greatly in cost, complexity, and use of toxic substances.

Clean or Phosphate both small and large parts parts with JENFAB's standard Conveyorized Spray Washers. For spray and immersion cleaning, the Rotary Drum-Auger parts washer will provide you with a continuous cleaning. Also available are standard machines for in-line, cell, high volume, and batch type parts washings to meet all your production requirements.

Heraeus Noblelight IR Process heating helps solve the most demanding process heating application challenges. Ideal for drying and curing, infrared's unique properties — increased production, high level of control, small footprint, and (most critically) energy savings — make IR technology the most cost-effective, efficient process heat method for industrial, manufacturing, and other applications.

VCF develops highly engineered thin film and coating solutions for a wide range of uses. Our coating process produces the world's thinnest and most precise films.

•  Pinhole and gel-free
•  Optical clarity and dimensional stability unmatched by other processes or manufacturers

Visit VCF Films today or call JC Brouet at (888) 823-4141 x118.

If you are having problems finding a hard chrome plating supplier that can handle complex part geometries, small to extremely large items, ID/OD plating, or other issues, Hartchrom Inc. is in the business of solving those issues for you. Learn more...

It's expensive to fix marine wind turbines, so manufacturers who build them want surface treatments that can withstand corrosive salt-water spray. To optimize the plating and powder coating process, one wind turbine manufacturer used vibratory finishing to "edge-break" the blade's sharp corners, creating a polished surface that improves adhesion. This short video shows how the process works.

Corrosion is costly. The U.S. Pentagon spends $22.9 billion a year to fight corrosion in the steel surfaces of ships, planes, and tanks. Now, a new category of chemically-bonded phosphate ceramics creates a passivation layer that can stop corrosion along with a dense ceramic outer shell that is impermeable to water. Rather than sitting on the surface of the steel, the new ceramic coatings actually bond to the surface through a chemical reaction, eliminating the damaging effects of humidity and oxygen.

A new lubricant and coating agent protects preformed plastic bottles from wear during transport and is safe enough for human consumption. All of the raw components in the lubricant are registered as food additives and can be applied to the plastic by spraying, brushing on, or dipping. As a bonus, the coated bottles can be packed tighter on a large scale, allowing the manufacturer to ship 30% more product in the same container.

To decrease friction between cylinder wall and piston, Mercedes Benz is using a novel coating process. Their NANOSLIDE technology produces a mirror-like iron coating on the cylinder surfaces of a lightweight aluminum crankcase. The coating is further treated to create tiny pores that hold oil for the piston assembly.

If you are making products by manually blending raw materials and still using a "batch ticket" process, it's time to realize "you are behind the times". A properly designed and implemented automated dispensing system = efficiency improvements = increased performance = increased profits.

Check out before and after. Visit www.novaflow.com for more.

Whether in the pit, for crushing, or for grinding, Columbia Steel has served the mining industry since the early 1900s. We've grown in size and sophistication with the industry, and have worked successfully to lower the cost per ton of ore processed in virtually every type of mining.

It's no surprise that growth for the coatings market is linked to the automotive industry. But this report from Coatings World takes a look at emerging markets for high-performance and special-effect pigments. The ability to customize products is driving their use in sectors as diverse as fibers, graphic arts, and architecture.

Science meets fashion in Susie Jahren's "Safe@Sea" project to create a textile coating which automatically seals small holes and tears in the surface layer of waterproof clothing and gear. Jahren and her team have added micro-capsules filled with a glue-like substance to polyurethane and applied the coating in a liquid form to the textile, creating a fabric that can heal itself.

Too Many Regulations?

Do too many recycling regulations, though initiated with good intent, end up being counter-productive?

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