Coatings enterprises pledge intelligent coatings

What is intelligent coating? The commonly accepted definition is "materials with one or more properties that can be significantly changed in a controlled manner by external stimulation, including corrosion protection, self dimming, self-cleaning, self-healing and other coatings." When it was first launched, intelligent coating was considered as a new product, and there was little possibility of commercialization in the short term. It turns out that is not the case. Only a decade later, this situation was broken. Over the past decade, the revolution and innovation in the field of intelligence have been so rapid that intelligent coatings can be used in automobile, architecture, consumer electronics and other applications every day, penetrate into all aspects of our lives, and constantly improve people's lives, including: easy to clean, fingerprint proof and glare proof coatings for transparent touch screens and displays; self-cleaning, fingerprint proof and glare proof coatings for self Superhydrophobic and easy to clean coatings for sensors and camera covers of motor vehicles; deicing coatings for aircraft windscreens; and solar thermal energy management coatings for aircraft, etc. One of the main trends to promote the development of intelligent coating technology is the continuous demand for higher performance - to extend product life and reduce maintenance, improve energy efficiency, and cope with the transformation from base to composite materials and new lightweight materials such as aluminum and AC.

At the same time, the health, environmental and other regulatory restrictions of some additives and chemicals, together with the progress of polymer chemistry and technology, also promote the progress of intelligent coating technology. With the development of time and technology, intelligent coatings become more functional, such as: photochromic / thermochromic / Electrochromic Coatings Applied on transparent glass or plastic will change color and spectral transmission characteristics according to appropriate stimulation; silver ion antibacterial coatings release silver ions through ion exchange with microbial pollutant cell walls, and the emergence of these new generation coatings Now it is beginning to occupy a place in the field of intelligent coatings. All these trends indicate that intelligent coatings (and more general intelligent materials) will become an important business opportunity in the future. A number of large enterprises have invested heavily in this field, including not only coating companies, but also large glass companies and other companies upstream and downstream of the supply chain. As early as 2017, Evonik announced that it planned to develop a new coating to make the hull "invisible" to microorganisms and free from the invasion of biofilm, algae and shellfish. Its research is not limited to marine coatings, but also includes anti freezing protective layer, anti-bacterial coating, dust-proof surface and other intelligent coatings. Akzo Nobel company in the coatings industry has also successfully developed self-healing automotive repair coatings, intelligent antifouling coatings and antibacterial coatings.

At the same time, PPG is developing a variety of multifunctional transparent coatings for interactive screens, displays and other surfaces in modern vehicles. Moreover, the coatings developed by PPG may be used as conductive and shielding elements for vehicle electronic equipment, and help OEMs reduce costs and weight by eliminating wires and mechanical connections. In addition to PPG, Akzo Nobel and Evonik, there are also coating and raw material enterprises such as BASF, Xuanwei, Jotun, RPM, Haihong old man, Ashtar, Dow, 3M and Eastman to participate in the intelligent coating market. At present, Europe has the largest intelligent coating market, followed by North America and Asia Pacific. There are also some coating enterprises in China that focus on the field of intelligent coating, and Jiangsu Chenguang coating is one of them. According to some time ago, morninglight is building a new intelligent color changing paint workshop. In this field, morninglight has launched an intelligent color changing dimming film, which uses the latest patented technology to mix the nano particles with dielectric anisotropy and special prepolymer to make a uniform and stable intelligent color changing film. The product is suitable for all kinds of glass, with sound insulation, heat insulation, explosion-proof, beautiful effect, can control the transparent and opaque state of the glass at any time, can play the role of screen projection, heat insulation and heat preservation, sunshade outside the window, replacing the traditional sunshade medium. Up to now, the biggest challenge of developing intelligent coatings is still how to improve its functionality, durability and expand the commercial application market.

At present, the application methods and curing mechanisms available in the market, the environmental, health and safety regulations related to the target end use market, as well as the inevitable cost restrictions will affect the promotion of intelligent coating application market. Due to the long service life and poor environmental conditions of the automobile industry, these obstacles are sometimes greater than other industries. External automotive coatings need to withstand a variety of environmental (UV, heat, humidity) and physical conditions for a long time. Easy to clean and other functional automotive coatings also face years of extreme challenges (wear, high temperature, chemicals, humidity, etc.). In addition, the addition of functionality to the coating generally increases the cost. For most applications, coating companies have to weigh functional improvements against increased costs. As far as the current situation is concerned, the priority of intelligent coating industry is to continue to expand its application in the mainstream coating market. Just like all the technologies in the early stage, the key to solve the problem is that the upstream and downstream industry chains work together to develop the market. If so, many technologies that are just interesting research projects now will enter the mainstream coating application field in the near future.