“A radical change in the way coatings are manufactured
We asked Dr Eva García-Lecina, Director of Cidetec Surface Engineering about trends in functional coatings.
How can functional coatings contribute to sustainability?
Dr Eva García-Lecina: Functional coatings can contribute to sustainability from two points of view: first, by being safe and sustainable by themselves, and second, by providing functionalities that contribute to a more sustainable world. Let me expand a little on these concepts. The European Green Pact is a new growth strategy, developed with the aim of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. A key element of this strategy is the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approach, understood as a systemic and global strategy that allows simultaneous consideration of sustainability and safety aspects at a very early stage in the development of new surfaces, coatings, materials, and products, minimising the use of hazardous chemicals, reducing greenhouse gases, and promoting the reuse and recycling of materials in a circular economy framework.
This approach implies a radical change in the way coatings are manufactured, ensuring their safety and sustainability, from the design phase to the end of their useful life. Some of Cidetec Surface Engineering’s developments with this approach are omniphobic and/or slippery coatings that avoid the use of fluorine on their composition, Ag-free antibacterial coatings, or easy-to-clean coatings incorporating bio-based components. On the other hand, functional coatings contribute to sustainability through their attributes.
Thus, we are working on anti-contamination coatings for aircraft wings to maintain laminar flow and reduce fuel consumption and CO2 generation, on easy-to-clean and anti-graffiti coatings that reduce the frequency of maintenance tasks in buildings and public transport, on anti-fouling coatings for naval applications, or on the development of self-healing coatings that improve the durability of materials and products for the automotive sector. These are just a few examples of the properties of functional coatings, which in turn, save energy, materials, and costs, contributing to sustainability goals and a circular economy.
What technological trends do you expect to influence functional coatings in the next years?
Dr Eva García-Lecina: I think that there are three main technological trends that will influence functional coatings in the next years:
1 – the adoption of digital enabling technologies, such as next-level process automation and virtualisation, machine learning, computing and AI for the development of new selective, digitalised and more efficient manufacturing processes;
2 – the bio-revolution that will lead to the incorporation of novel bio-based chemicals to the generation of functional bio-coatings free of toxic substances;
3- and finally, the transition to digitalised functional coatings, meeting the challenges of functionality, efficiency and user experience for the market and society.
Always considering a sustainable approach.
You can also read another perspective on the topic by Josep Palasi, Chief Scientist and Santiago Arias, Head of Product Sustainability at Hempel, in the EC 360° library.
