A new anti-sliding adhesive developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, may be the closest man-made material yet to mimic the remarkable gecko toe hairs that allow the tiny lizard to scamper along vertical surfaces and ceilings.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes and guidelines highlight safe working practices in hazardous areas, and specifically how to control static electricity, which in many cases is capable of providing the ignition source for a fire or explosion.
Improving pigment dispersion is a vital aspect of performance in water-based inks and coatings. The elements of dispersing are wetting of pigment agglomerates, separation of the agglomerates into discrete primary particles and maintenance of particle separation once it is achieved. Often, dispersion formulations can possess adequate pigment wetting, but not long-term stability (maintenance of particle separation).
The advantages of using the highest specification grinding media in milling operations are well documented and understood. Higher density provides the potential to increase productivity, often significantly over other traditional ceramic and glass materials. Improved toughness and durability result in extended bead lifetimes and machine maintenance periods.
Dow Corning Corporation is a leader in developing new Silicon-Based Technologies (SBTs) that advance the coatings industry and empower formulators to offer new functionality in various applications. In the past 10 years, the number of new patents related to silicon-based materials for coatings has increased exponentially, specifically related to solving the problems traditionally addressed by SBTs, such as foam control, wetting and adhesion promotion.
With the introduction of waterborne acrylic (latex) technology more than 50 years ago, commercial coatings manufacturers found an alternative to traditional solventborne alkyd chemistries that had been the mainstay of the coatings industry until that point in time. Waterborne paint chemistry offered significant advantages to both manufacturers and end users of coatings, including easier clean-up and lower VOC content when compared to solventborne alkyds, which required significant amounts of organic solvent additives during the manufacturing process. However, the switch to waterborne chemistries did not completely eliminate the VOC content of acrylic-based coatings. All acrylics, particularly “gloss” acrylic latex formulations, require the addition of organic solvents to enable coalescence and coating film formation.
The federal government purchases a huge amount of goods and services, totaling $412 billion in 2006. Manufacturers of biobased products have a unique opportunity to connect with the nation’s largest marketplace – and to generate increased revenue to build their businesses while sustaining the environment and helping the farm economy.
Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker, President and CEO of Wacker Chemie, AG, Munich, greeted the International Press March 18, 2008, with news of continued growth. WACKER’s 2007 results were the best in its history.
A few years ago the coatings world was ‘nano’ crazy. The term nano was everywhere. I didn’t know what it really meant since there wasn’t an agreed-upon definition of nano. Mostly it meant adding a little of something tiny to paint. It didn’t matter if was a 5-micron particle. If it was small – it was nano. “Sustainability” has replaced nano as the hot topic.
A good matte finish is often required in coatings formulations. In order to fully optimize this important parameter, Michelman has recently developed two wax dispersions: Michem® Guard 349 and Michem Guard 350. Both dispersions aid in imparting a matting effect to most aqueous coatings and varnishes, while enhancing other properties such as abrasion resistance and water repellency.
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