Surfaces: Hydrophobic | Hydrophilic | Self-cleaning |Anti-microbial
Devices: Thin-film solar panels | Supercapacitors
Many products are available on the market for augmenting the surface properties of an existing product, thus making it suitable for a new range of applications. For example, using emulsions of TiO2, SiO2, ZnO (and some others), temporary thin-film layers can be created by rubbing the compound onto the surface of interest and letting it dry for a short period of time. If used as pigments (eg, Titania - TiO2) in paints, permanent coatings with self-cleaning, anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties can be created.
Also, if doped with the correct dopants, surfaces with photovoltaic properties can be created. Emerging reports suggest that it is possible to create a new generation of thin-film solar panels using several thin-film oxide layers deposited onto each other without special equipment and conditions such as vacuum, controlled environment, etc. The same is applicable for the development of a new generation of energy storage devices such as high performance batteries and supercapacitors, which in turn have a myriad of applications.
The PAN-FSP nanofabrication method offers unique advantages in simplifying, accelerating, and up-scaling the processes for creating a diverse range of beneficial surface coatings and multi-layered nanostructured products of high quality and value, cost-effectively.
Copyright 2017: Dr Jonian Nikolov, EDEN BDM Limited.