Coatings

Latest Innovations

Self Healing Coating Resists Seawater

Dr. Paul Braun from the University of IL has developed a type of coating that uses seawater as the catalyst for increasing seawater resistance.

Dr. Paul Braun from the University of IL has developed a type of coating that uses seawater as the catalyst for increasing seawater resistance.

Method for Delaying Frost Growth on Heat Exchangers

A meniscus-...

A meniscus-guided solution coating technique to produce pharmaceutical nanothin films. This is a new way to manufacture personalized multilayer combination drugs, which can be beneficial to types of cancer where mono-chemotherapy is ineffective. This new technology enables a uniform deposition of thin films down to a few nm in thickness, easy alternation of the film morphology (modulation of dissolution rate) and polymorphism (control of bioavailability), and a layer-by-layer production of dosages comprised of multiple active pharmaceutical ingredients. The method is cost-competitive, scalable, and high-throughput.

Improved Condensation of Organic Fluids on Lubricant-infused Surfaces

Dr. Nenad Miljkovic from University of Illinois has developed an invention which improves the condensation of organic fluids. Vapor condensation is an ubiquitous process...

Dr. Nenad Miljkovic from University of Illinois has developed an invention which improves the condensation of organic fluids. Vapor condensation is an ubiquitous process applied in a wide range of industrial processes including power generation, distillation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems and natural gas processing. Over the past several decades, water-repellent or hydrophobic surfaces have been developed for water condensation. However, this approach does not work with low-surface-tension fluids such as alcohols and hydrocarbons. Other approaches, such as omniphobic surfaces, fail for condensation applications. Starting from regular metal tubes (e.g. copper), Dr. Miljkovic and coworkers developed scalable nanostructured lubricant infused surfaces (LIS) that can sustain rigorous condensation conditions.

Coating for Anti-fouling and Anti-corrosion on Metals

Dr. Nenad Miljkovic’s research group has developed a new technology to reduce the susceptibility of metallic surfaces to fouling/scaling. The invention is a thin (<~100...

Dr. Nenad Miljkovic’s research group has developed a new technology to reduce the susceptibility of metallic surfaces to fouling/scaling. The invention is a thin (<~100 nm) multi-layered solid-state coating that reduces the surface energy  and nucleation site density of metals such as aluminum, copper, and more. The technology has been demonstrated to reduce scale accumulation by 95% as compared to uncoated surfaces and eliminates the intrinsic durability issues of oil-based coatings.

Applications for the technology include the reduction of scale build-up on air conditioning and refrigeration systems and the prevention of coke deposition for aviation applications.

Ultra-scalable and Resilient Etched Metal Enhancements for Enhanced Refrigerant-Side Heat Transfer in HVAC Equipment

Dr. Miljkovic has developed microstructured aluminum (Al) tubes with increased heat transfer rates of 240% during refrigerant flow boiling. Highly conformal are generated...

Dr. Miljkovic has developed microstructured aluminum (Al) tubes with increased heat transfer rates of 240% during refrigerant flow boiling. Highly conformal are generated by a scalable etching technique. The cost-effective techniques used to create etched-Al microstructures stand to significantly reduce manufacturing cost and time required for current enhancement approaches such as extrusion, drawing, and welding. At the same time increased performance is ensured on the thermal side. In addition, the fabricated etched structures are highly durable due to structure formation based on the base metal, and therefore do not suffer from thermal expansion coefficient mismatch issues, as is the case with other enhancements.