Nanotechnology and the coatings industry

The British Coatings Federation (BCF) in cooperation with the Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network (NanoKTN) and the Paint Research Association (PRA) organized a one day seminar on 21 October, 2010, at the Nottingham Gateway Hotel to discuss the benefits, opportunities and challenges provided to the Coatings Industry by Nanotechnologies. Dereck Illsley from Sun Chemicals introduced Sun's nanocomposite gas barrier coatings and argued that dispersed/exfoliated platy minerals in its SunBar range applied to polymer matrices provide a tortuous path through which gases such as oxygen have difficulty passing. Gordon Fem from The Institute of Occupational Medicine/SAFENANO reported on the recent report from EMERGNANO commissioned by the HSE and two RIP-oN projects on the current status of health, safety and environmental research on Nano.