May 7 2013
Nano Labs Corp. is pleased to announce today the development of a revolutionary self-cleaning paint that degrades pollutants through a proprietary nanoparticle compound and natural light.
The eco-friendly, advanced nanotechnology paint coating will keep exterior surface material performance and appearance standards for much longer periods of time.
"Our new product is suitable for application on a wide variety of materials including metal, cement, bricks and wood, and may be used in anything from buildings, car parks and roads, to refineries and pipelines. Our new coating can significantly reduce maintenance requirements for companies and governments and increase the lifespan of these expensive capital infrastructure investments. The fact that the end result is a finish that will make them appear cleaner is a bonus, where the focus for most customers will be the reduction of the destructive effects of pollution, weathering and graffiti which are expensive burdens over time," states Dr. Castano, Chief Innovations Officer of Nano Labs.
The idea of self-cleaning paints has been around for over a decade and many companies market these claims. However, Dr. Castano points out the failure of many of them to commercialize. Most products rely on either texturization or high surface energy. In the case of texturization, commonly referred to as "the Lotus Effect", pollutant particles are picked up by water droplets due to the nano or micrometric architecture of the surface which minimizes adhesion. The second case is the use of high surface energy materials, like Teflon, to coat the surface. Generally speaking, the problem with both of these applications is that they are expensive and hard to apply for large areas (for example, commercial use in large square foot applications).
The novel approach captured by the team at Nano Labs is based on an important and unique nanoparticle compound proprietary to Nano Labs.
"In our case the situation is completely different," Dr. Castano explains. "Our material is neither a texturized or high surface energy solution. Instead, we leverage natural light and our proprietary nanoparticle system that allows any surface to literally, keep itself clean from contaminants, dirt, dust, waste, fungus, or for that matter, graffiti or bird droppings. We are committed to producing green solutions through nanotechnology that can have dramatic and positive ecologically friendly impact but also drive the bottom line for our future customers and shareholders."
The Company has completed initial prototype testing and is preparing for submission of standardization and accreditation tests that are required prior to commercialization.