Functional Nanoparticles
The area of surface engineering of nanoparticulate materials was established at YKI during 2007, with new capacities enabling the synthesis and surface modification of different nanoparticulate (mainly metal oxides) materials.
As the surface chemical properties of these materials to a very large extent dictate their properties in the final application, a large effort will be devoted to modification of the interfacial properties by tailoring the synthesis routes.
Application areas
Application areas that will be evaluated include the use of inorganic nanoparticulate additives to functional coatings (UV absorbing clear coats, increased scratch resistance of clear coats), optical materials (increased refractive index of hydrogels in optical lenses), adhesives (offering an increased resistance to creep), electromagnetic shielding coatings, biomedical diagnostic as well as therapeutic applications.
Within the coatings field, YKI has in collaboration with SP Trätek developed UV-absorbing nanoparticle systems that are especially designed to be compatible with water-based clear coats. The initial results are very promising, the particles are well-dispersed in the water-borne clear coating and the film gives strong absorption in the UV-part of the sunlight spectrum.