the liebniz institute for new materials (inm) in saarbrucken, germany is introducing a new triple treatment for heat exchangers that is anti-corrosive, anti-adhesive, and also anti-microbial, according to an announcement on the inm website.
the nano-coating prevents corrosion and microbe buildup in heat exchangers. (institute for new materials)
the new nano-coating is to be debuted at the hannover messe at the end of april and will be initially targeted towards the food processing industry, particularly milk and juice producer who use heat exchangers regularly. this could have many applications in air conditioning and liquid cooling applications as well.
researchers introduced hydrophobic compounds similar to teflon to reduce the formation of biofilm and allow residues to be transported more easily without causing clogs. there are also structures in the coating that act as diffusion barriers to prevent corrosion from cleaning agents.
the anti-microbial component is colloidal copper that releases copper ions to the surface of the material when interacting with oxygen or water. this prevents the growth of microbes.
“in addition, we can keep the paint chemically stable. otherwise it would not withstand the aggressive chemicals that are required for cleaning,” explained carsten becker-willinger, head of nanomers at inm. he added that paint could be adapted for special purposes and applications, such as strengthening the heat exchangers against abrasion caused by vibration.
the announcement of the new coating added, “the paint can be applied using standard methods such as spraying or immersion and subsequent hardening. it can be used on stainless steel, steel, titanium or aluminum. by selectively adapting individual constituents, the developers are able to respond to the particular, special requirements of interested users.”
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