Smart materials are becoming an important part of our future, and in many cases they are right under (or above) our noses today. Every-day examples range from your child’s forehead thermometer to your sunglass frames.
Adding formaldehyde-free alternatives to the encapsulation arsenal will be beneficial for many manufacturers, especially those creating products used directly by consumers or in building materials used in residential or office buildings.
A report by Transparency Market Research predicts the global smart coatings market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 29.8% during the period between 2017 and 2025.
Liquid-impregnated surface coatings have untapped potential because they can be applied to a wide variety of industries to advance sustainability by reducing waste, increasing product yields, improving production efficiency, providing consistent dosage and enabling product innovation.
Tomorrow’s paints and coatings can be much more than a pretty surface. Many of them will be smart, functional materials that respond to, and change, the environments around them.
It is possible to remove traditional inhibitors and incorporate smart pigment materials to give the same, if not a better, level of corrosion control in coatings.
In their continual search for high value-added opportunities, one of the most attractive prospects over the next decade will be so-called smart coatings that is coatings that respond “intelligently” to various mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical stimuli.
Advanced Polymerics Inc., Salem, New Hampshire, a provider of smart coatings and functional materials for the industrial marketplace, has hired Stephen Jewitt as Technical Director.
