{"id":9464,"date":"2024-01-09T13:57:30","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T11:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coatinginstitute.org\/?p=9464"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:58:10","slug":"quo-vadis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatinginstitute.org\/en\/quo-vadis\/","title":{"rendered":"Quo Vadis, Coatings?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Read the article by Petros Moschidis<\/strong>, published in the latest issue of Architect<\/strong> magazine by BOUSSIAS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Imagine a scene from a science fiction film: the year is 2050<\/strong>. You are driving through an industrial area on the outskirts of Athens in your autonomous car, admiring the view.<\/p>\n

On both sides of the road, robots are abrasive blasting fuel tanks, while at the same time collecting the removed material so that it can be 100% recycled into new coating material<\/strong>. Drones fly overhead, equipped with specially adapted containers, applying protective coatings using integrated airless spray guns.<\/p>\n

This future scenario may seem excessive. However, some of these technologies are already under development and may become part of our everyday life within the next 20\u201330 years.<\/p>\n

The use of drones in shipping for the removal of biofouling from ship hulls is a technology that is already being applied, both in shipyards and on vessels while in service. The collection and recycling of waste generated by abrasive blasting and hydroblasting in shipyards is already the subject of research programmes around the world.<\/p>\n

Predicting future technological developments in the coatings industry is not easy. What is certain, however, is that in the coming years coatings will need to offer additional functions beyond the protection and decoration of surfaces.<\/p>\n

These are the so-called functional coatings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Natural resources on our planet are finite, and in the future we may no longer have the option of extracting new materials. For example, converting sand into high-quality silicon for solar panels is costly and energy-intensive.<\/p>\n

It is considered almost certain that, at some point, coatings will be able to convert part of solar energy into electricity. In other words, they will transform the fa\u00e7ade of a building into a single photovoltaic element.<\/p>\n

Passive fire protection coatings are another example of functional coatings. As the years go by, demand for them is increasing in workplaces, schools, stadiums and older homes undergoing renovation.<\/p>\n

Walls, floors, doors, windows and even furniture will be coated with suitable materials so that, in the event of fire, they delay flame development, giving people more time to evacuate safely.<\/p>\n

Research has already led to the development of carbon capture coatings<\/strong>. Their operating principle was inspired by algae.<\/p>\n

The prerequisite is that these coatings are applied on surfaces exposed to light, where they act biomimetically, through a mechanism similar to photosynthesis, removing CO\u2082 from the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

According to experimental data from the American Coatings Association<\/strong>, three 15-litre buckets of coating, once applied, can remove 14 kg of CO\u2082 per year<\/strong> \u2014 the same amount removed by an adult tree weighing 250 kg over the course of one year.<\/p>\n

Electromagnetic shielding coatings are another type of functional coating. These materials block a significant percentage of electromagnetic radiation.<\/p>\n

They contain metallic flakes, usually nickel, copper or silver, and are applied to surfaces in order to prevent the passage of electromagnetic radiation.<\/p>\n

They are used in:<\/p>\n