Controlling TiO₂ nanoparticle distribution within a coating film for surface mechanical property study

Experimental studies have shown that nanocomposite coatings may show superior mechanical and barrier properties and new functionalities, such as self cleaning, self healing, super scratch resistance, super corrosion resistance. These smart functional coatings should have great application potentials in the automotive, semiconductor, defense, construction, aerospace, and other industries. In nanopaint design, a certain type of functional or non-functional nanoparticles needs to be dispersed in a coating matrix; a significantly increased surface area of these fillers at nanosize is the main reason behind improved mechanical and barrier properties of nanocoating films. It is known that layer-by-layer assembly of nanoparticles can be useful in incorporating self-cleaning phenomenon in coating thin films.[1],[2] The finding justifies the importance of nanoparticle size and its depth inside coating thin films to obtain superior performance properties. Hence, understanding and developing a correlation among them is critical to optimize nanocoating’s performance properties.

In developing nanocoatings, the use of water-borne composites such as acrylics is increasing tremendously due to growing environmental concerns with solvent borne coatings. Some nanoparticles like titanium dioxide (TiO2) can help in introducing smart functionality into coatings as they behave as oxidizing agents in the matrix. But formulating these nanocoatings with uniform dispersion without aggregation of nanoparticles is still a challenge.