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PPG Protective and Marine Inks Agreement with Hi-Temp

Hello and welcome to your late week international coatings industry update, brought to you by SpecialChem. We have something for everyone in this issue, from antimicrobial to maintenance to low reflectance coatings, so let's get started.

In raft-up news, PPG Industries' protective and marine coatings business has signed a global distribution agreement with Hi-Temp Coatings Technology Co. for select Hi-Temp branded products. Hi-Temp Coatings Technology manufactures coatings that withstand extreme temperatures to protect both carbon steel and stainless steel substrates in stacks, piping, boilers and similar equipment.

Hi-Temp coatings products are used in refineries, petrochemical plants, pulp and paper mills, and power plants. "PPG is proud to help protect many of the world's most important assets, and we are happy to add Hi-Temp coatings to our product offering," said Tom Mauck, PPG VP, Protective and Marine Coatings. "Working with Hi-Temp Coatings Technology enables us to offer global customers additional high-quality options to meet more of their coatings needs."

Researchers at Thailand's National Nanotechnology Center announced that they have build the first locally made prototype solar powered water purification unit "SOS water" which combined the use of antimicrobial nanocoating on ceramic filters. Compared to conventional ceramic filter, an antimicrobial nanocoating ceramic filter will increase an extra security by killing or incapacitating bacteria left in the water and preventing the growth of mold and algae in the body of the filter. The project was implemented as a result of the need to provide drinking water to communities affected by the 2011 flooding in Thailand.

The researchers adapted the antimicrobial nanocoating know-how for water filtration and assembled into their production mobile solar-operating system (SOS) water purification. The raw water goes through 6 filtration steps one of which is the antimicrobial nanocoating ceramic filtration unit. The SOS water system is capable of producing 200 liters of drinking water per hour and easily integrated into a pick-up, light truck, a trailer or a flat-hull boat.

In aerospace news, Alion Science and Technology provided a protective coating to Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Dragon capsule for its first flight to the International Space Station (ISS). Alion applied a conductive thermal control coating to the "Dragon Trunk", the cargo portion of the Dragon spacecraft. Since shipping aerospace hardware to a stationary coatings facility can often be difficult, costly and time-consuming, Alion engineers developed a portable coatings application system that can be easily transported. Using this new system, Alion's experts sprayed protective coatings onsite at SpaceX facilities.

"We are excited to support such an important test mission that could radically impact the way cargo is delivered to the International Space Station," said Chris Amos, Alion Senior VP and Manager of the Technology Solutions Group. Alion has been developing and applying aerospace coatings on government and commercial satellites and spacecraft since the early days of the U.S.-Russia space race.

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany have discovered that tiny vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles can inhibit the growth of barnacles, bacteria, and algae on surfaces in contact with water, such as ship hulls, sea buoys, or offshore platforms. Their experiments showed that steel plates to which a coating containing dispersed vanadium pentoxide particles had been applied could be exposed to seawater for weeks without the formation of deposits of barnacles, bacteria, and algae.

In comparison, plates that were coated only with the ship's normal paint exhibited massive fouling after exposure to seawater for the same period of time. The discovery could lead to the development of new protective, antifouling coatings and paints that are less damaging to the environment than the ship coatings currently used.

It was one of nature's own defense mechanisms that provided the inspiration for the approach now taken by the team of scientists working under Professor Dr. Wolfgang Tremel of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry at JGU. Certain enzymes found in brown and red algae produce halogen compounds that have a biocidal potential. It is assumed that these are synthesized by the algae to protect them against microbial attack and predators. The chemists at Mainz University decided to mimic this process using vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles.

According to their article published in Nature Nanotechnology, vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles have "an intrinsic biomimetic bromination activity, which makes them a practical and cost-efficient alternative for conventional chemical biocides." Vanadium pentoxide functions as a catalyst so that hydrogen peroxide and bromide combine to form small quantities of hypobromous acid, which is highly toxic to many microorganisms and has a pronounced antibacterial effect. The required reactants are present in seawater, which already contains bromide ions, while small quantities of hydrogen peroxide are formed when it is exposed to sunlight.

The process has been demonstrated both under laboratory conditions and in natural seawater. Reportedly, it has only very minimal consequences for the environment because the effect is restricted to micro-surfaces. The metallic oxide is particularly potent when it is present in the form of nanoparticles because then, due to the larger surface area, there is an enhanced catalytic effect.

"Vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles, due to their poor solubility and the fact that they are embedded in the coating, are considerably less toxic to marine life than are the tin- and copper-based active substances used in the commercially available products," explained Wolfgang Tremel.

In his view, ships' coatings based on vanadium pentoxide could be a practical and cost-effective alternative to conventional chemical biocides. "Here we have an environmentally-compatible component for a new generation of antifouling paints that employ the natural defense mechanism used by marine organisms."

Ron Wever, the team's Dutch cooperation partner from the University of Amsterdam, has been investigating natural defense mechanisms for the last 15 years. He suggested adding the enzyme involved, (vanadium haloperoxidase,) to antifouling paints. The chemists in Mainz are now working together with Wever to develop vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles. "Vanadium pentoxide particles are considerably cheaper and also more stable than genetically produced enzymes," he adds.

A research group headed by Dr. Klaus Peter Jochum of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz has been conducting experiments to determine whether the use of vanadium pentoxide has a negative effect on the environment. Using a highly sensitive ICP mass spectrometer, the scientists determined the concentration of vanadium in various samples of seawater that had been exposed to the coated material for different lengths of time.

The results showed that levels were only slightly elevated above the normal average vanadium concentration in seawater. It can thus be concluded that only very tiny amounts of vanadium migrate from the coating into seawater and will thus have no negative impact on the environment.

Because of the maturity and makeup of the paint industry, we rarely get to welcome a new company unless it is promoting a specific new technology, and this is especially true in the artist market. This week, however, we noted a new company announcement. Plutonium Paint, a company which manufactures aerosol spray paint, announced that their product is now available at stores across North America. Plutonium Paint, a unique modified automotive acrylic was released to the public in December 2011.

In less than seven months on the market, Plutonium Paint has found its way onto the shelves of retailers all over the United States and Canada - as well as into the hands of artists, decorators and organizations. A proud member of the (NAMTA), Plutonium Paint debuted as an exhibitor at this year's Art International Art Materials Trade Association Materials World show, the only trade show dedicated exclusively to art materials, a venue where retailers were able place orders for Plutonium Paint.

Consumers can find Plutonium Paint at Jerry's Artarama, True Value, Ace Hardware, Curry's Art Store and Dick Blick. "We are extremely pleased with the rate our product has been picked up by retailers and consumers in the US and Canada," said Plutonium Paint CEO, Barry Fleischer. "We're looking forward to expanding our distribution efforts worldwide."

Plutonium exterior/interior aerosol spray paint provides a premium coating that resists dripping, chipping, cracking and peeling. Environmentally friendly, and by using a 70% pigment load and 30% propellant, it has over twice the coverage of other aerosol paints, thereby reducing its carbon footprint by 50%.

Features include an ergonomically seamless can and custom valve system, which allows the can to be held at any angle while spraying, without clogging. The Plutonium Paint color palette consists of 33 vivid opaques, 3 metallics and 4 translucents. As a true HVLP (high volume low pressure) color delivery system, the paint has been developed to dry faster, cover better and last longer than any other aerosol paint.

The company is based in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

As a physicist with a background in the nuclear industry, I have to say the company name creeps me out a little, though.

In packaging news, a new paint bucket with a trendy wave-shaped lid designed by three Taiwanese university students won a bronze medal Monday at the 2012 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) organized by the Industrial Designers Society of America. The concept, which had already won an award at Germany's iF design awards, features a lid with a wave-shaped edge, allowing users to open the can without tools.

The lid's shape also enables users to pick it off the ground without getting paint on their hands, according to Cai Fu-yu, who, along with fellow designers Li Yin-kai and Shy Shou-ren, studies industrial design at National Taipei University of Technology (NTUT). Cai got the idea when he tried to open a paint can but couldn't because he did not have an appropriate tool, and he thought to himself, "why not make a can that can be opened more easily?"

It was the first IDEA award ever won by NTUT, according to Fang Cheng-kuei, a lecturer at the school. Fang described it as a prestigious honor because the IDEA is one of the world's three biggest design awards along with the iF award and Reddot award.

The special paint bucket was patented on April, and Fang hoped there will be manufacturers who are willing to work with the team to commercialize and mass produce the concept.

The 2012 IDEA winners were announced on Monday in the United States and the award presentation ceremony is slated for August 18 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

In solar nanocoatings news, Magnolia Solar Corporation announced last week that it has demonstrated ultra-high, omnidirectional transmittance through a coated glass window over the entire accessible portion of the solar spectrum in its testing. The measured improvement in transmittance results from coating the glass with a new class of materials consisting of porous silicon dioxide nanorods. These technical results were presented by Magnolia's CTO, Dr. Roger E. Welser, at the IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference (PVSC) in Austin, Texas, USA on June 8, 2012.

The presentation was part of a special session on New Concepts in Light Concentration and Light Trapping, and summarizes work done in collaboration with NYSERDA and Professor Fred Schubert's group at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

"Ultra-high, broadband transmittance through coated glass windows has been demonstrated over a wide range of incident angles," noted Dr. Welser. "At normal incidence, the reflection losses at the glass-air interface have been reduced from approximately 4% to less than 1%. At large angles of incidence, the reflection losses have been reduced from over 25% to less than 5%. We believe, the nanostructured coating developed by Magnolia for photovoltaic applications significantly outperforms conventional magnesium fluoride coatings at all relevant wavelengths and incident angles."

Dr. Ashok K. Sood, President and CEO of Magnolia Solar said, "The antireflection technology described at the IEEE-sponsored conference can increase the power output of any photovoltaic module, including crystalline silicon and thin-film technologies by reducing the reflection losses.

"Fixed, flat-plate solar cell modules typically suffer significant reductions in power output due to reflection off the front glass encapsulant, most notably when light strikes the panel at glancing angles. Such reflection losses are especially severe early in morning and late in the afternoon when the sun is lower in the horizon. Reflection losses also occur throughout the day, particularly as diffuse skylight can strike a solar panel at glancing angles.

"Nanostructured optical coatings can increase the power output of fixed, flat-plate modules by minimizing reflection losses throughout the day. This patent-pending technology has the potential to benefit a wide variety of specialized military and commercial optical window applications. Magnolia Solar is currently focused on developing a larger scale process for the deposition of nanostructured optical coatings."

In other news, Arkema announced a major project for the development of its Kynar® PVDF business in Europe. Over €70M are to be invested into the Pierre-Bénite site in France, in particular to increase Kynar® PVDF production capacity by 50%, and so support customers in high-growth applications... more about this news

Gevo, Inc. announced that the U.S. District Court of Delaware denied the Motion for Preliminary Injunction sought by Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels, LLC (Butamax) against Gevo. This decision replaces the previous court order, and means that Gevo is once again free to sell in any market, to any customer, in any region... more about this news

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique for controlling the crystalline structure of titanium dioxide at room temperature. The development should make titanium dioxide more efficient in a range of applications, including photovoltaic cells, hydrogen production, antimicrobial coatings, smart sensors and optical communication technologies... more about this news

And finally, General Dynamics has entered an agreement to acquire the Ship Repair and Coatings Division of Earl Industries, a leading East Coast ship repair company that supports the U.S. Navy fleet in Norfolk, Va., and Mayport, Fla. The value of the cash transaction, which General Dynamics expects to be accretive to earnings in 2013, has not been disclosed... more about this news

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