EXOCOAT®

• June 2025

In today’s manufacturing environment, performance is just the beginning. Modern industries must also prioritize sustainability, worker safety, and regulatory compliance.

As global restrictions tighten around PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), manufacturers are moving away from outdated materials in favor of cleaner, smarter technologies. EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ is leading that transformation. This advanced PFAS-free ceramic coating delivers exceptional protection and performance—without the environmental burden. 

🧪 What Are PFAS, and Why Are They Being Eliminated?

PFAS are synthetic chemicals once valued for their non-stick, water-repellent, and chemical-resistant properties. They were widely used in coatings, textiles, electronics, and packaging.e

However, these “forever chemicals” do not break down easily in the environment or human body. As a result, global governments are banning or tightly regulating PFAS, driving the demand for PFAS-free alternatives.

🌍 Why EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ PFAS-Free Coating Is the Future?

With PFAS bans gaining momentum, manufacturers need high-performance materials that are also safe and compliant. EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ Coating delivers exactly that.

Engineered for modern manufacturing challenges, EXOCOAT™Ceramic+ provides:

• 🔥 Outstanding thermal resistance
• 🛡️ Corrosion and chemical protection
• 💪 Durability in abrasive environments
• ✅ 100% PFAS-free composition

EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ Coating Benefits:

• ✅ Fully compliant with global regulations
• ✅ Safe for workers, end-users, and ecosystems
• ✅ Ideal for high-performance and precision applications
• ✅ No compromise on quality or reliability

🚀 EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+: Performance You Can Trust

EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ Coating is designed to meet the demands of the most rigorous industries while meeting today’s environmental expectations.

🔍 Core Features of EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+:

• ✅ PFAS-Free – No toxic fluorinated compounds, ever
• ⚙️ High-Endurance Protection – Withstands heat, wear, corrosion, and aggressive chemicals
• 📏 Precision Thin-Film Application – Maintains critical tolerances for complex assemblies
• 🌱 Eco-Friendly Chemistry – Supports safer workplaces and greener supply chains
• 🎨 Custom Finishes Available – For performance and aesthetic flexibility

🏭 Industries Adopting EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ Coating

From heavy industry to clean tech, EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ Coating is quickly becoming the go-to solution across sectors:

• 🚗 Automotive & EV –
• ✈️ Aerospace
• 🏭 Industrial Manufacturing
• 🔥 Energy & Utilities

🌱 A Better Alternative for a Cleaner Tomorrow

EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ Coating proves that you don’t need PFAS to achieve world-class protection. It’s the next generation of ceramic technology—offering unmatched performance without environmental compromise. Whether you’re seeking to meet new regulations, improve sustainability, or simply protect your products with the best, EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ is the coating of the future.

No PFAS. No trade-offs. Just high-performance protection.

• June 2025

EXOCOAT™ Ceramic Coil is Axcentive’s development of innovative ceramic-based anti-graffiti clear coil coatings designed specifically for coil-coated metal surfaces used in architecture and infrastructure. Utilizing advanced organometallic chemistry, EXOCOAT™ Ceramic Coil forms a thin, transparent ceramic nanolayer that provides robust protection against graffiti, chemicals, UV light, and harsh weather conditions.

• March 2025

In February, a tow-pages article was dedicated to our EXOCOAT™ Ceramic+ in Jachtbouw Nederland Magazine.

See below the translation into English

Infinite Shine

The ceramic coating Exocoat Ceramic+ by Axcentive makes hull maintenance more sustainable, saves costs, delays the need for refitting, and reduces CO2 emissions. A thickness of just two microns is enough to keep the hull above water gleaming for years.

Axcentive originates from a management buy-out of Akzo in 2004. “For the past 10 years, we have been developing ceramic coatings,” says Marco van de Pol from Axcentive. “Exocoat Ceramic+ is our most recent product and offers many advantages over what is currently available on the market.” His colleague Arno Schut adds: “The coatings are based on chemical science, in which both Marco and I are trained. Extensive research and practical experiences in America and Southern Europe show that our ceramic coating does exactly what it’s designed to do.”

Easy and cost-effective
“When a large yacht undergoes a refit, which is typically needed once every five years, the hull is sanded, filled, and repainted,” says Marco van de Pol. “These tasks are time-consuming, CO2-emitting, and expensive. With our Exocoat Ceramic+, you can delay such a refit by two years or longer. You only need 10 milliliters per square meter on a cleaned surface for optimal protection and shine again. Our coating is a single-component product, making it easy to apply. For large ships, you spray it on, and for smaller ones, you apply it with a microfiber sponge. It’s liquid when applied and dries in the air. Let’s say a hull refit costs 1 million euros; with a treatment using Exocoat Ceramic+, you’ll only spend 100,000 euros.”

Long-lasting shine
“A layer of Exocoat Ceramic+ maintains its shine for two to three years, after which you can repeat the process,” says Arno Schut. “Technically, you can apply a new layer every three years indefinitely, except when there are damages to the hull. Our coating is as hard as glass, or better yet, as hard and strong as diamond, which contributes to the long-lasting shine. A thickness of two microns keeps the layer flexible, allowing it to adhere well to the surface. Exocoat Ceramic+ forms a chemical bond with the substrate without damaging it. The layer does wear down slowly, but what enters the environment is silica, or sand. This waste stream is therefore not harmful to the environment.”

Innovative
The glass-hard ceramic layer is super smooth, water-repellent, UV-resistant, self-cleaning, scratch-resistant, dirt-repellent, and maintains its shine for years. “I have seen it many times in practice, such as on superyachts in Florida, so I know it’s not too good to be true,” says Marco van de Pol. “This is exactly what our coating does, making it a welcome addition to existing coating systems. The market still needs to get used to the new revolution of ceramic coating in some cases. We already apply this technology extensively on yachts, as well as on cars and other coated parts, with the primary goal of extending maintenance intervals. This significantly reduces costs and environmental emissions.”
In addition to coatings for coated parts, Axcentive also offers special ceramic coatings for glass (super water-repellent) and exhausts (dirt and soot-repellent). These ceramic coatings are also applied to yachts. For the Benelux region, Van Dongen Verf is our partner, and starting this spring, the coating will be available through shipyards and retail.

• March 2025

EXOCOAT™ CERAMIC+ is Axcentive’s ceramic coating for durable, outdoor, easy to clean surfaces

In a study the comparative performance of a standard sol-gel coating and EXOCOAT™ CERAMIC+ applied via spray deposition on aluminum substrates was investigated. The assessment encompassed critical performance parameters such as drying time, hardness, adhesion strength, gloss retention, cleanability, resistance to water immersion, and susceptibility to UV exposure. The primary objective of this study was to determine the superior coating system under various operational conditions.

Key Take Away Points

1. Drying Time: EXOCOAT™ CERAMIC+ dries quicker than Standard Sol-gel coating, with no tackiness after 6 hours, while Standard Sol-gel coating remains sticky even after 6 hours. ​
2. Adhesion and Hardness: Both coatings passed the adhesion test after using an alkaline degreaser, but EXOCOAT™ CERAMIC+ showed slightly better hardness (10N) compared to Standard Sol-gel coating (8N).
3. Cleanability: EXOCOAT™ CERAMIC+ is easier to clean and leaves no shadow after cleaning, while Standard Sol-gel coating is harder to clean and leaves visible marks. ​
4. Water Immersion: EXOCOAT™ CERAMIC+ showed no visual change and maintained its gloss after 14 days of water immersion, whereas Standard Sol-gel coating exhibited whitening and a significant loss of gloss. ​
5. UV Exposure: After 500 hours of UV exposure, EXOCOAT™ CERAMIC+ developed cracks, while Standard Sol-gel coating showed whitening. ​ Both coatings had unsatisfactory cleanability results post-UV exposure.
6. EXOCOAT™ CERAMIC+ is PFAS-free

• September 2024

At the Lab we developed synergistic surface treatments for enhanced functionality. EXOCOAT™ 143 and EXOCOAT™ AC represent a two-step surface treatment system designed to optimize the performance of aluminum and various other metals. This approach leverages the complementary properties of each coating to achieve superior functionality.

EXOCOAT™ AC:  This initial conversion coating utilizes a chromate-free approach based on sol-gel technology. This layer enhances the adhesion of subsequently applied coatings and promotes corrosion resistance by offering a passive barrier against aggressive environments. The specific mechanism of EXOCOAT™ AC involves sol-gel conversion of the metal surface resulting in excellent adhesion and excellent intercoat adhesion to subsequent layers.

EXOCOAT™ 143:  Following the conversion coating, EXOCOAT™ 143 serves as a ceramic clearcoat. This layer possesses easy-to-clean properties, due to a low surface energy that minimizes contaminant adhesion.

EXOCOAT™ 143 is made PFAS free, in which the organometallic resin provides water and oil repellent characteristics. This property not only simplifies cleaning and maintenance but can also offer additional benefits like improved stain resistance and reduced susceptibility to fingerprint smudging. EXOCOAT™ 143 may be used as low maintenance anti-graffiti coating to which no tag adheres.

Synergy and Performance:  The combined action of EXOCOAT™ AC and EXOCOAT™ 143 provides a powerful surface treatment solution. The conversion coating by EXOCOAT™ AC improves the overall adhesion and corrosion resistance of the metal substrate, while the easy-to-clean properties of EXOCOAT™ 143 offer a user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing surface. This system can be particularly advantageous for applications in demanding environments or where frequent cleaning is necessary.

Material Compatibility: EXOCOAT™ AC and EXOCOAT™ 143 function well on aluminum and a variety of other metals.  For optimal performance, it’s always recommended to technical team to check the compatibility for specific application and desired metals.

EXOCOAT™ AC and EXOCOAT™ 143 are both applied as thin layers (total DFT 10-15 micron) and give good corrosion protection properties with up to 3000hrs neutral salt spray resistance. Both products can be cured at room temperature with moisture from the air or can be baked at elevated temperatures, 90 to 150^oC.

• April 2024

From April 30th to May 2nd Indiana Convention Center is hosting the American Coatings Show 2024.

ACS is the showcase for innovations and trends in the coatings industry. It gathers players from all around the world to present and discuss their latest developments.

Axcentive is glad to return to ACS this year and exhibit EXOCOAT™, its range of nanotechnology and innovative coatings solutions. This is the perfect opportunity to meet companies that are looking for innovative solutions in the field of coatings.

The EXOCOAT™ range includes clear coat sol-gel and preceramic resins as well as nanoparticle technology for formulators.

EXOCOAT™ offers functionalities like anticorrosion, fire retardance, self-cleaning, superhydrophilic, supherhydrophobic, easy-to-clean and anti-graffiti. The latter are offered as PFAS free systems.

The whole team would be pleased to welcome you on our booth #523.

• April 2024

Read the entire article that Arno Schut presented at the EC Conference on Functional Coatings & Nanotechnology held in Köln early April.

Mechanical Study of coatings relating salt spray performance & molecular build up

(more…)

• January 2024

Axcentive will be delivering a speech at the EC Conference on Functional Coatings & Nanotechnology in Cologne, Germany from April 9th to 10th 2024.

Arno Schut will present our recent research work on how new Sol-Gel technology is used as anti-corrosive conversion coatings for aluminium substrates.

• January 2024

In our research laboratory, we continue to develop new sol-gel formulations.

One target area is sol-gels as replacement for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) containing materials. PFAS are persistent chemicals, meaning difficult to breakdown and are potentially harmful to humans as they bioaccumulate in human tissue. PFAS have been used to incorporate hydrophobic and particularly oleophobic properties into materials such as coatings and plastics.

Sol-gel technology is a promising alternative to PFAS for a variety of applications due to its ability to create durable, hydrophobic, oleophobic, and non-toxic coatings as pointed out below:

• Being partly of fully inorganic sol-gel coatings are very durable and can withstand harsh conditions, such as high temperatures, strong wear, and abrasive chemicals.
• Sol-gel coatings can be made to be very water and oil-repellent. This makes them suitable for applications where stain resistance is important, such as non-stick cookware and easy to clean coatings.
• Sol-gel coatings are generally non-toxic and are made of non-harmful chemicals.

At Axcentive we promote sol-gel technology-based products for easy to clean, anti-graffiti and general anti-stick coatings under the EXOCOAT™ brandname.

• January 2024

On November 23rd, our Sol-Gel development partner, Materia Nova, opened its doors on the initial site in Mons

(where they have been operating for more than 20 years) for the inauguration of its new building and the implementation of new pieces of equipment with exceptional performance in surface treatments and analysis:

• The Domino Kila Flex PVD deposition system from Oerlikon
• A latest generation ToF-SIMS spectrometer (M6 developed by IONTOF) coupled to a FIB (Focus Ion Beam).
• An XPS spectrometer unique in Europe (Genesis developed by Physical Electronics).

It was a festive opportunity for our scientific experts and our customers to discuss projects and needs for new functional performance of materials in order to meet the challenges of energy and environmental transitions.

For more information about the equipment and what we can do for you, contact Materia Nova