- December, 2023
Materia Nova ASBL and Axcentive SARL officialized their intentions to combine their skills in the field of wet organic sol gel hybrid chemistry for smart and functional coatings on hard surfaces.
Materia Nova supports companies in the development, scaling up and industrialization of new technological solutions. The company has been involved for many years in the development of functional surface coatings.
Axcentive produces and markets innovative technologies in coatings and related markets and has successfully targeted the smart and functional coatings market, globally.
Both entities are joining forces to come together in a strategic partnership to foster innovative nanotechnology and enable their customers to remain at the forefront of their markets.
The partnership has been endorsed on September 26 th, 2023, in Mons, Belgium by the Management Team of both organizations.
The Foundations of the strategic partnership between Materia Nova and Axcentive lay on their complementarity.
“Our collaboration with Materia Nova is an exciting step forward in our growth in the smart and functional coatings market and our dedication to provide unique coating materials. We further strengthen our ability to meet the evolving market needs and accelerate the development of products allowing for ground breaking and sustainable performances in OEM environments, coating formulations or end applications, explains Sarah Koehler, Director of Axcentive and pursues: Together with Materia Nova’s know-how and strengths in the field of sol gel technology, we can further develop our advanced range of smart and functional coating materials marketed under the EXOCOAT™ brand.This marks a new chapter for Axcentive.”
Arno Schut, Innovation Manager at Axcentive: “As Axcentive we have always been in favor of joint cooperations with customers and research laboratories for the simple reason it is more efficient than carrying the total development as a sole company. Together with the Materia Nova experts we will be even better able to innovate and capitalize on the existing know-how.”
“Materia Nova’s mission is to transfer technological innovations to markets and customers. Through the various projects carried out over the past few years, we have acquired solid know-how in functional wet coating technologies. Most of the time, the products resulting from our developments are exclusively intended for very specific tailor made applications. Based on Axcentive’s knowledge of markets and specifications, and thanks to its marketing capabilities, we can adapt these developments to meet other needs for other applications and markets”, says Martine Bouvet, in charge of the business development activities at Materia Nova.
Mireille Poelman, scientific expert for wet coating technologies at Materia Nova: “this collaboration gives us the means to push our research efforts even further and offer truly innovative and differentiating solutions.”
Sol-gel technology is an excellent process for producing hybrid coatings which are intermediates between organic coatings and ceramics.They are sometimes called “ceramic like”. These coatings are obtained under mild chemical conditions, at temperatures lower than those of conventional synthesis routes. These conditions offer the possibility of combining organic and mineral species for ancient families of hybrid compounds with new properties. A method particularly suitable to produce films and coatings, for example for the treatment of surfaces such as glass, metal, wood, paper or plastics. It is possible to disperse fillers in the sol-gel matrices, to add additives to give them specific functionalities: hydrophobic/oleophobic, anti fouling, antimicrobial, mechanical resistance, anti corrosion, membership promoter, etc.
Hybrid organic sol-gel wet chemistry has evolved significantly in recent years. Under the restrictive impetus of new regulations for environmental protection, certain dangerous products or components must be eliminated from surface coatings. This is how Materia Nova develops sol gels which represent excellent alternatives to zinc layers, chrome VI, polyfluorinated alkyl substances, etc. Materia Nova and Axcentive are strongly involved in the replacement of PFAS in coatings. The Horizon Europe project BIO SUSHY (coordinated by Materia Nova, Axcentive being advisory board member), offers a complete operating framework to develop sustainable PFAS free water and oil repellent organic and hybrid coatings, targeting the textile,food packaging and cosmetics markets. Materia Nova demonstrates the ability of Sol-Gel to respond to very demanding applications,
for example in the aeronautics sector with the Stellar project to mitigate insect contamination and preserve laminar flow.
The market for smart and functional coatings is growing rapidly and is fueled by rising demand for sustainable, durable, high performance coatings. Over the last few years, the boost of nanotechnology and functional materials has promoted the development of new smart and functional coatings, and this trend will continue to rise in the next coming years. These coatings bring surface functionalities such as extreme water repellence, self cleaning, antifogging, antimicrobial, anti graffiti, superhydrophobic, anticorrosion, or easy to clean properties. They are widely used in various industries including building and construction, automotive and transportation, aviation and marine industries. The importance of functional coatings lies in their ability to improve product performance, durability, reduce maintenance costs and improve overall process efficiency in industrial applications. Walls, solar panels and glass can be made self cleaning. Trains can be coated with a layer of true anti graffiti coating to which tag does not stick and can be easily wiped off. All kinds of flat surfaces can be made easy to clean.