Nanomaterials for Abrasion-Resistant Coating Applications
Nanomaterials have been the subject of intensive research activity in recent years, from which numerous applications have been developed with products ranging from UV adsorbers, cosmetics, catalysts and heat transfer fluids to coatings. In the area of coatings, nanoparticles have been shown to provide beneficial properties for wear- and scratch-resistant coatings, thermal spray coatings, radiation absorbance coatings, and conductive coatings. Interest in these materials is prompted by the enormous potential that nano-sized crystalline particles offer in terms of their unique chemical and physical properties.
Metal oxides prepared by the PVS process are comprised of crystalline, equiaxed, nonporous, discrete particles exhibiting mean diameters in the 10-50 nm range, with surface areas of 15-90 m2/g. The high surface area and small particle size provides a substantial surface/bulk atomic ratio, and results in a highly strained surface with numerous reactive sites.