A significant level of research and development is currently being pursued in order to gain a full understanding of how coatings technology is impacted by the integration of nano-materials into formulated coating systems. The principle observation for the consideration of nanothechnology in coatings is the change in properties of materials such as clays, silica, TiO2, alumina, etc., as their size is reduced to the nano scale. The changes in properties of these materials are manifested in their increase in surface area and increase in chemical reactivity.
Much of the development for application of these materials has included both the fundamental investigation of the synthesis, characterization and mechanisms of materials behavior as well as the development of problem-directed performance improvements and practical applications. Examples of these applications include the reaction these materials with various organic polymers such as acrylics, epoxies, and polyesters leading to applicable coating systems on a variety of substrates.