Polymer Research and Coatings Technology

The Institute assists clients with the development and commercialization of specialty materials such as controlled-release biocidal films and nanoparticle-polymer composites, examples of which have been invented at the Institute. The Institute is committed to helping clients understand market needs and adapting or developing the appropriate technology to address improved performance, lower costs, intellectual property rights, scale-up requirements for manufacturing needs, and environmental impact or regulatory concerns. In addition, there has been a new initiative this year in intelligent materials processing to help both government and industry fabricate materials that require less rework and waste.

An SwRI technician paints an aileron at the new Coatings Technology Integration Office (CTIO) located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Important CTIO goals are to help solve painting and coating problems that can arise under varied climate conditions, as well as test the application of new, environmentally acceptable products.

A process for making optically clear, but radio-opaque composite polymers containing high fractions of metal oxide for use in commercial dental materials has been established during the first year of a five-year, $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to SwRI and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Several liquid crystal monomers are being synthesized and tested for use with metal oxides to develop a restorative which, when photocured, exhibits little or no shrinkage. This material technology has potential use in other applications requiring low polymerization shrinkage.

The need to conserve natural resources has placed increased emphasis on the use of recycled materials in manufacturing. The Institute is conducting research for a producer of wood-based composites to improve their material performance and characteristics. A broad range of useful products can be manufactured from recycled paper, including writing pencils, lipstick pencils and eyeliners, building materials such as wallboard, and gaskets for automobile engines.

Rocket casings and other ordnance materials are frequently manufactured from high-strength, low-weight polymers reinforced with carbon fibers, having about twice the strength and half the weight of aluminum. As part of a new intelligent materials initiative, the Institute is engaged in a program for the U.S. Army to improve technologies for processing these novel materials. The program will be integrated into an intelligent database to allow engineers to optimize complex design procedures.

In this image of the surface of a superconducting thin film obtained using laser technology, the variations of color on the surface indicate differences in the surface composition. These variations may be important indicators of superconducting efficiency.

The Institute, in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, has developed the necessary sensors and intelligent materials process technology to improve the quality and reliability of very thin films of a crystalline ceramic material known as yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO). These films are produced using a pulsed laser deposition technique. YBCO conducts electricity without resistance at temperatures of 90°K and is also cheap and readily available, offering many potential uses in a wide range of devices.

Patented films and powders that release chlorine dioxide at controlled, variable intervals have been developed by Institute scientists and are currently being commercialized by Bernárd Technologies, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois. Chlorine dioxide is a powerful biocide that can kill fungi, bacteria, and viruses at levels of 1 to 10 parts per million in a few minutes. Production of the controlled-release system recently has been scaled up to commercial levels. Immediate markets for chlorine dioxide include the household, agricultural, and consumer packaging industries. Other potential applications are under development for use in disease transmission control, medical devices, and self-sterilizing packaging.

SwRI staff members contributed to the equipment selection and design for the establishment of the U.S. Air Force Coatings Technology Integration Office (CTIO), which opened in May 1998 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The Institute is a principal contractor for the CTIO and will help the Air Force troubleshoot and solve paint, surface treatment, depaint, and environmental problems for many Air Force weapon systems. The Air Force spends $700 million per year on corrosion prevention, maintenance, and stripping and painting aircraft, and hopes the establishment of the CTIO will help reduce these costs.

Institute technicians working for the CTIO used a novel material to paint the new YF-22 jet fighter for demonstration at the Air Force 50th anniversary static display. To meet environmental restrictions, SwRI used water-based paints that required special application techniques to overcome their high viscosities without resorting to water dilution. The final paint surface met appearance standards without requiring expensive, aerospace-grade paints.

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