EXOCOAT®

• December 2023

Axcentive is proud to be ranked within the Top 100 of the most popular suppliers of coatings ingredient listed by Specialchem  for the 3rd consecutive year.
It is an opportunity to amplify the awareness around EXOCOAT™ and the transformative solutions it brings to the market. Our sol-gel and nanotechnologies are more than products: they acknowledge our determination to continue delivering solutions that go beyond expectations.

Top 100 suppliers of coatings ingredients 2023

• 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.

The combination of Axcentive and Materia Nova expertises in the wet coating technologies will open new innovative opportunities for the rising demand for sustainable, durable,high performance coatings.

• September, 2023

Axcentive SARL and Materia Nova ASBL are joining forces to foster innovative nanotechnology and enable their customers to remain at the forefront of their markets. Both entities have decided to come together in a strategic partnership.

“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.”

• August, 2023

Axcentive has accepted a position on the External Advisory Board (EAB) in the Horizon 2020 Project: BIO-SUSHY.

The BIO-SUSHY project aims to develop innovative coating solutions that meet the EU’s chemical strategy for sustainability by creating safe and durable water and oil-repellent coatings.

Effective water and oil-repellent coatings today are almost solely fluorine based.
Fluorine based coating raw materials have been scrutinized due to their persistence, i.e., they are difficult to breakdown by nature and toxicity. Recently, Europe ECHA has announced its proposal to ban certain fluorine based compounds, also called forever chemicals, from 2027 on forward. USA and China governing bodies move in similar ways.

The BIO-SUSHY development project is planned over 4 years in which the research on viable F-free alternatives is supported by lab work, the use of computational modelling, toxicity assessment and SSbD (safe and sustainable by design) methodology.

Arno Schut, Innovation Manager at Axcentive is excited about the project: “Axcentive has been active in the market for water and oil-repellents with products free of the targeted fluorine chemicals. Hence, we are in a good position to advise on research directions and especially to find further improvements in current technology.”

Part of the BIO-SUSHY project is Materia Nova ASBL research institute, strategic partner of Axcentive in sol-gel and related technologies.

(more…)

• July, 2023

Showcased at ECS 2023 in Nurnberg, coated automobile rims based on EXOCOAT™ technology kept remarkably clean when the rim was smeared with dirt. Applied by simple spray application on a commercial aluminium-based rim suited for a Tesla Model Y, the coating is robust and resistant against chemicals and sustains a CASS (Copper Accelerated Salt Spray) test for more than a week.
This preceramic technology can be adapted for room temperature, forced cure and even for the coil coating application (30 sec, 250^oC).

In the domain of industrial finishes, the EXOCOAT™ technology can replace persistent fluorine-based resins such as FEVE, PVDF and PTFE matching their excellent resistance properties. Moreover, with EXOCOAT™’s preceramic technology one may expect better adhesion properties and reduced peel off a typical shortcoming of fluorine resins.

• June, 2023

After more than 3 years without the possibility to attend exhibitions, Axcentive was finally present on 2 important fairs by end of first quarter 2023.

European Coatings Show
ECS is the industry for paints and coatings leading trade show. Late March, ECS opened the door of a new edition in Nuremberg.
Axcentive could not miss that event and were pleased to exhibit at ECS 2023 for the third time. Almost 25,000 visitors came to the show. We enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere of this 2023 edition and were thrilled to meet again with our customers & partners at the Show.

We were grateful for the multiple visits paid to our booth and for the fruitful interactions. Our objective was not only to reinforce our presence in the field of additives used in inks, coatings and adhesives, but also to promote our range of innovative coatings solutions. The goal was achieved as most of the visitors welcomed to our stand came for EXOCOAT™ and many interesting projects are already in the pipe.

In addition, we had the chance to present our latest product developments in relation to titanium dioxide based nanotechnologies for smart and functional coatings, during the product presentation led by our Innovation Manager, Arno Schut during the ECS conference.
We can already save the date for 2025.  Click here to watch the full video

Les Nauticales
Les Nauticales is the yachting & watersports event bringing together yacht builders, shipyards and professionals from this industry. It was held in La Ciotat, France from March 18^th to 26^th.

Our International Sales Manager Juan-Carlos BARONNA was invited to attend the round-table event dedicated to Innovation and Sustainability with other professionals from the yachting industry on March 23^rd.

He had the opportunity to explain how nanotechnology-based coatings; which form the basis of the EXOCOAT™ range, allow for ground-breaking and more durable performances in the yachting industry.

• March 23, 2023

Meet up with our International Sales Manager Juan-Carlos BARONNA at Les Nauticales in La Ciotat, France this week!

Les Nauticales is the yachting & watersports event bringing together yacht builders, shipyards and professionals from this industry.

Juan-Carlos BARONNA is invited to attend the round-table event dedicated to Innovation and Sustainability with other professionals from the yachting industry on March 23rd and will have the opportunity to describe how nanotechnology-based coatings – which forms the basis of the EXOCOAT™ range – allow for ground-breaking and more durable performances in the yachting industry.
For more information, contact us…

• February 28th, 2023

Next month, Nüremberg is welcoming the European Coatings Show and Conference after 2 years without any gathering due to the pandemic.

Europe’s leading conference on coatings, inks, adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals will be held on March 27th and 28th at the Messezentrum. International experts will be reunited to present recent developments, but also to debate and to inform.

Arno Schut, Innovation Manager from Axcentive, will be speaker at the Functional Coatings Conference on Monday March 27th to discuss about Titanium Dioxyde Based Nanotechnology for Smart and Functional Coatings:

“Nano titanium dioxide produced from the sol-gel method forms an easy route to waterborne sols that can be directly applied as a coating following commonly used application methods. Coatings based on sol-gel prepared nano titanium dioxide were applied on to glass showing minimal effect on the transparency of the glass. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) and AFM (Atomic force microscopy) showed that the coating had an open structure with a particle size of 16nm and an average rugosity of 29nm. These coatings are superhydrophilic upon light activation, which results in decreased water contact angle and demonstrate antistatic behaviour. Moreover, the coating was able to breakdown organic and inorganic matter according to ISO27442 and ISO1096-5 standards for the breakdown of these types of materials. In a real-life performance test coated solar panels were able to produce on average 1% more power. (…)”

While being there, you can also pay Axcentive a visit in Hall 3C, booth 751. The whole team would be pleased to present you the latest developments and solutions that EXOCOAT™ can offer you.

From March 8th to 10th, Axcentive will be present in Bangkok at the VIV ASIA 2023 show.

Seize the opportunity of this fair to meet Daniel Woo in hall 3, booth 4625 and discuss with him about the efficiency of Halamid® in livestock and in aquaculture.
We will have the pleasure to welcome on our booth Kaset Center Co Ltd, our official distributor of Halamid® in Thailand.

• January 2nd, 2022