heavy duty truck and automotive industries, but there is added interest from
other markets such as appliances, recreational vehicles, furniture and building
products.
SHAWCOR EXPANDS
PIPE COATING FACILITY
ShawCor Ltd. has announced that
its subsidiary, Shaw Pipe Protection
Ltd. will invest $11 million to construct a new pipe coating facility in
Camrose, Alberta, Canada to provide technologically advanced internal pipe coatings and insulation systems for the Western Canadian
Sedimentary Basin (WCSB).
The new coating facility, scheduled to
be completed in the third quarter of
2008, will provide advanced SureFlo
internal flow efficiency, anticorrosion
and abrasion resistant pipe coatings for
the oil sands region and other pipeline
markets. The SureFlo product line will
be expanded in 2008 to include internal
anticorrosion and abrasion resistant
coatings and this new facility is a key
component of this expansion strategy. In
addition, the new facility will manufacture Insul- 8 AG, a new high temperature pipe insulation system for above
ground pipelines.
ROLLS-ROYCE ALLIANCE WINS
U.S. NAVY RESEARCH CONTRACT
A strategic alliance between Rolls-Royce, a market leader in marine
applications, and UCT Coatings Inc. is
bringing new technology to the marine
market and is about to start work on a
$7 million U.S. Navy research contract. The contract, placed with Rolls-Royce, will evaluate UCT’s patented
UltraCem nickel boron coatings on
naval propulsion systems such as propellers and waterjets.
These coatings have the capability
to change the hydrodynamic performance, cavitation characteristics and
sea-growth fouling of propellers and
waterjets. Performance, reliability
and time between repair of marine
equipment can also be increased by
reduced friction and wear. UCT has
granted Rolls-Royce a long-term
exclusive license to use this technology for a wide range of commercial and
CCNY, RICE UNIVERSITY DEVELOP LOW-COST, GREEN
TECHNIQUE FOR PRODUCING ANTIMICROBIAL PAINTS
Researchers at The City College of New York (CCNY) and
Rice University have developed a low-cost, environmentally friendly technique for embedding antimicrobial silver
nanoparticles into vegetable oil-based paints. The method,
to be reported in the March issue of Nature Materials, could
give homes and workplaces a new defense against germs by
applying a fresh coat of paint.
Silver’s antibacterial properties have been known for
thousands of years, and silver nanoparticles offer superior
antibacterial activity while being non-toxic. However, coatings containing antimicrobial agents have failed commercially in the past due to their complex, multi-step preparation methods and high cost of production.
The CCNY/Rice team developed a “green chemistry”
approach to synthesize metal nanoparticles in common
household paints in situ without using hazardous reagents
and solvents. “We extensively worked on poly-unsaturated
hydrocarbon chain containing polymers/oils to devise a
novel approach to nanoparticle formation,” said Dr. George
John, Professor of Chemistry at CCNY and lead author of
the article.
Polyunsaturated hydrocarbons undergo auto-oxidation-induced cross-linking, which is similar to lipid peroxidation,
the process by which fatty acids are oxidized in biological
systems. During this process a variety of chemically active
species called ‘free radicals’ are generated. These were used
by the group as a tool to prepare metal nano-particles in
situ in the oil medium.
“The simplicity of the process and economics should
allow us to commercialize these paints as a versatile coating material for health and environmental applications”
said Dr. Pulickel M. Ajayan, Professor of Mechanical
Engineering and Materials Science at Houston-based Rice
University, and co-author.
“Using the same approach we should be able to produce
a large variety of nano-particle dispersions useful in applications ranging from healthcare to catalysis,” added co-investigator Dr. Ashavani Kumar, a postdoctoral research
associate at Rice.
The nanoparticle embedded coating can be applied like
traditional paints to such surfaces as metal, wood, polymers, glass, and ceramics. The metal nanoparticles show
characteristic color but avoid the use of short shelf-life
organic pigment paints.
In addition, these coatings exhibited efficient antibacterial activity toward Escherichia coli (E. coli) and
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus).
The antibacterial property is important for hospitals and
other public buildings that are prone to bacterial growth, a
main cause of infection and disease.
“We have been working on developing various in situ
methods for organic soft matter-mediated metal nanoparticle synthesis,” noted Dr. Praveen Kumar Vemula, one of the
investigators. “However, to date, the present approach is
the smartest as it is devised based on utilization of naturally occurring process.”
