Stain resistant paints from smart hydrophobic surfaces

The business opportunity that this project addresses is the introduction of universal stain shedding decorative paints to the
premium end of the large volume decorative paint market. To address this business opportunity the project team must
translate the novel surface science recently shown by UCL (Science 6 March 2015) into commercially realistic materials
(Omya) for processing into desirable decorative paints (AkzoNobel) for sale to the end user (UK consumers) at a premium,
but realistic, price. The problem faced by AkzoNobel is that even the most durable of decorative paints have a tendency to
suffer from staining from common household stains (coffee, red wine) which leads to customer dissatisfaction if the stain
cannot easily be removed; even requiring redecoration in the some cases. The intended output of the project will address
this problem as it will deliver universal stain shedding decorative paints from which all stains are automatically released on
the stimulation of the staining process
There are five innovative aspects to this project
a) Delivery of the superhydrophobic surfaces using cost effective minerals, as opposed to the published route based on
expensive titanium dioxide (TiO2), will be innovative.
b) The application and use of mixtures of accurately controlled particle size minerals in main stream decorative paints is not
actually practiced and so this would be innovative.
c) No cost effective decorative paints are available that have the technical ability to self-shed dirt and stains.
d) The concept behind the science of this innovation is practised to some extent in stain resistant fabrics. There would be
innovation in transferring the effects in stain resistant fabrics to decorative paints.
e) Decorative paints where stain shedding is the marketing focus have not been brought to the UK (or EU27) marketplace
so this would be a commercial innovation.

Given the strong current customer needs for delivery and maintenance of perfect colour in the home
(http://www.letscolourproject.com/) the proposed technology from this project would be extremely timely.

This project will strive to create smart products (universal stain shedding decorative paints) that use the combination of
functional materials in the superhydrophobic surfaces recently revealed by UCL.
The envisaged smart product (a universal stain shedding decorative paint) will be one that responds autonomously to a
stimuli in the environment (household staining of painted surfaces from accidental spillage or deliberate graffiti) to produce
a beneficial action (automatic repulsion of the stain to recover the desired clean surface). This is an enhancement of
existing decorative paints with the addition of smart universal stain shedding properties.
The project addresses the issues associated with materials manufacturing and processing as it is looking to take proven
academic science into the large volume commercial arena, which has often been challenging to realise in an economically
viable way. The project will therefore include, by necessity, work packages on
a) novel fabrication techniques, such as dispersion of the identified materials, to allow for their delivery within a decorative
paint so that consumers can still easily apply the paint in their home
b) material characterisation and in-situ monitoring to confirm that the novel smart products meet the customers desires for
universal stain shedding decorative paint
c) accelerated life tests to determine material durability so as not to reduce the currently accepted home (re)decorating
cycle.
The desired end point of the project is a decorative paint that will never succumb to disfiguration by staining and hence
there will be a reduced need for repair. This will reduce material consumption (less redecoration) and reduces the need for
end-of-life treatments (less need to recycle unwanted stained painted substrates if they cannot be repainted).
Furthermore the stain resistant superhydrophobic paint may intrinsically also have damp, condensation resistance (water
can not penetrate a superhydrophobic surface) and antimicrobial properties (biofilms/ molds struggle to be established on
superhydrophobic surfaces).