Imagine an ultra-thin film that's invisible to the human eye. In fact, it's 2,000 times thinner than the plastic wrap you use to store leftovers.
Now imagine that film is embedded with performance properties to make it scratch resistant, anti-static, stain resistant, anti-reflective, non-stick, or water and soil resistant. Finally, imagine coating a commercial product with that film.
Scott Rickert, Ph.D., president and CEO of Nanofilm, refers to the process as "nano-izing," and it's what his Valley View company does every day in its labs.
"We develop coating formulas, embed them with the characteristics our customers want, and create the processes that enable them to apply the coating to their product," he explains.
Nanofilm specializes in coatings for glass, plastics, metals, concrete, fabric and wood for several worldwide markets, including electronics, architecture, transportation, and optical and consumer products.
When LensCrafters introduced non-glare plastic lenses for its eye glasses, they came to Nanofilm to create a coating to protect the non-glare surface. Cleveland company Ferro turned to Nanofilm to create a scratch-resistant film for a line of porcelain restaurant dinner ware.
Nanofilm developed an effective, long-lasting auto glass coating that's water resistant and provides "a huge advantage in heavy rain and snow," Rickert says. "It's Rain-X on steroids." The product's name is "Defender," and it's available through Amazon.com.
According to Rickert, with nanotechnology, less is more. "For example, if you make a surface coating super slippery, it requires less frequent and less aggressive cleaning. That means fewer harsh cleaning chemicals, like phosphates and ammonias, so it's better for the environment and costs less to clean."
Nanotechnology also has applications in the medical field, Rickert notes.
"Work is under way to make surfaces of body implants, like joints or heart stents, more biocompatible."
Future advances in nanotechnology may lead to more efficient solar energy and smaller, more powerful computers as well, he adds.
Source: Scott Rickert, Nanofilm
Writer: Lynne Meyer