Functional Coatings

Preface Just about every article or object we encounter in daily life has a surface that has been treated in some way during its manufacturing process. The surface is what we first recognise when we see or touch an article or object. Surface treatment is responsible for the decoration, surface feel and protection of the surface, including corrosion protection. New developments (e.g. nanotechnology, encapsulation technologies, etc.) have opened up new opportunities for the integration of new surface functions, in addition to decoration and protection. One of the best known functional surfaces is the surface of lotus leaves. These surfaces are extremely dirt-repellent due to their hydrophobic properties. A large amount of research is also being conducted on other, equally interesting surface properties, e.g. anti-fouling, drag-reducing, and self-healing, and is striving to transfer the underlying surface principles into concepts for coatings. Interdisciplinary work groups in research organisations and industrial companies are actively exploring the enormous potential of functional coatings. This book summarises the vast number of new developments and the results of this work. The present gives users of paint technology an overview of the most promising developments and approaches. It also gives readers an idea of what is currently possible and what is likely to be possible in the near future. It highlights the current status of development or market introduction of the different technologies and novel surface functions that go beyond decoration, corrosion protection and surface protection. We naturally had the difficult task of selecting information from a huge number of publications and we had to focus on the most important aspects for the users of paints and coatings, paint chemists, and paint manufacturers. We chose to focus on organic coatings (including organic-inorganic hybrid coatings) and have not addressed PVD/CVD methods, galvanic methods and other non paint/lacquer related topics. Bremen, Germany in Oktober 2010 Volkmar Stenzel & Nadine Rehfeld Volkmar.Stenzel@ifam.fraunhofer.de Nadine.Rehfeld@ifam.fraunhofer.de