COATING TECHNOLOGY SwiSS-9var.glassonline.com/uploads/publications/section...SwiSS-9, GmbHmbH Aarbergerstrasse 3-5 Nidau CH-2560 Switzerland Tel: +41 – 78 – 9354565 Fax: +41 –

63Glass-Technology International 5/2015

C O A T I N G T E C H N O L O G Y

SwiSS-9:surface protection with wet coating; eliminating deposits

When speaking about ‘self-cleaning’ properties, the only coatings that truly enrich the surface with this effect are those containing functionalized nano-particles. However, since neither the medical and scientific communities have given their consensus on the possible dangers of these particles, SwiSS-9 has come up with a different solution – CareTec film – providing the glass curtain wall and shower enclosure markets the performance they need at an affordable price – without nano-particles.

C O A T I N G T E C H N O L O G Y

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so can pick up particle de-posits along its path. The better the coating the lower the adhesion force between the surface and the water drop. However, without the use of nano-particles or engineering roughness elements, it is nearly im-possible to make very small sub two-millimetre dia-meter drops slide on their own. The mass is just too small and, with it, the gra-vity force becomes insuffi-cient to overcome even the lowest of chemical adhe-sions. This ability to repel small drops is a very good measure of coating effec-tiveness in repelling water. If two surfaces are coated with different coatings and positioned vertically, the coating that is able to make smaller drops slide is more effective in repelling water.

EVALUATING COATING REPELLING ABILITYTypically, the coating’s re-pelling ability is evaluated by measuring the static

Located in Ni-dau, Switzerland, SwiSS-9, GmbH uses cutting edge technologies researched at the Advan-ced Materials Processing Laboratory of Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Technology to manufacture its products with pride and – of course – Swiss quality.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND THEIR SURFACE QUALITIESMost traditional construc-tion materials such as glass, brick, rock, wood and metal possess intrin-sically polar surfaces. The intrinsic polarity of these surfaces originates from the nature of the chemical bonds between the atoms comprising these materials. As a result, the surface energy of these materials is relatively high and dimini-shes the likelihood of envi-ronmental deposits that no longer have an energetically -comfortable surface.

CARETEC, ANINNOVATIVE WET-COATINGBearing this in mind, SwiSS-9 has developed CareTec, an innovative wet-coating that changes the top layer of the polar substrate material after deposition by chemically reacting with it and binding a ptfe-like film to it. This film hides surface electrons from contact with environmental deposits and in doing so increases the likelihood of these depo-sits preferentially finding a more stable energetic resi-dence away from the ptfe-like film covered surface. The visible spectrum tran-sparent and anti-reflective nature of the film does not change the appearance of the surface to the naked eye, and in addition incre-ases by up to five per cent the portion of the incident light that transmits through the film as opposed to being reflected away.The combination of the coating’s ptfe-like surface

characteristics that lower the attractive potential and transparent appearance of the intrinsic surface, results in an upgrade of the sub-strate material that remains aesthetically unchanged, but with an added fun-ction of repelling oncoming unwanted environmental particle deposits such as sand, dust or automotive exhaust products.

Repelling liquids

Moreover, the coating is also efficient in repelling liquids. It has the ability to convince liquid molecu-les such as water or oil to clinch together and form pearly structures that gra-vity easily rolls away. Nor-mally, without the coating, the surface gets contami-nated with embedded parti-cle deposits that remain on the surface once the liquid evaporates away. Any par-ticles that do find residen-ce on the coating are easily cleaned off as the coating disables adhesion to the surface.

Easy to clean

This easy-to-clean feature of this coating is the essen-ce of the commercial ex-ploitation. In recent years, the ‘self-cleaning’ feature was an accentuated mar-keting message and this confused consumers. ‘Self-cleaning’ is produced when gravity or wind force outdo the adhesion force between the surface and the water drop. The water drop com-mences sliding and in doing

Glass slides were coated with 4 easy-to-clean coatings and sprayed with mist. Drying took place in-between each of the 15 spraying cycles. SwiSS-9 CareTec is in the upper left corner marked with an S


and shower enclosure mar-kets the performance that they have been waiting for. Combined with the extre-mely efficient in-line auto-mated deposition system – developed by Giardina – results in value that cannot be reached or beat, and top performance at an incredi-bly attractive price.

dable and the easy-to-cle-an characteristic will make life easier.

NECESSARYCLEANING CYCLES AND DURABILITYThese necessary cleaning cycles can induce wear damage to the coating. In addition, the coating of this type can be sensitive to hydrolysis and UV ra-diation. All of these are aging me-chanisms and experienced users of this type of coa-tings will care to assess the durability of the coating in addition to its repelling ef-fectiveness. The headache comes from inexistence of normative and accurate ac-celeration trials. No acce-lerated aging test can give a meaningful quantitative measure of the coating’s durability, but instead only a qualitative. The only real and accurate evaluation is direct exposure in the envi-ronment of interest. CareTec film has, so far, given the glass curtain wall

that are nano-particle free. We invested extra efforts to ensure our coatings are harmless to the people and the environment. The ‘self-cleaning’ effect alone is therefore of limi-ted potential for glass co-atings. Small water drops remaining on the surface will, upon evaporation, co-ver the coating with lime-stone or other embedded particles such as sand, and the coating will eventually be fully covered. To restore the coating’s ef-fectiveness in repelling wa-ter and other deposits, one needs to wipe away the de-posited limestone and ex-pose the coating’s surface and this is where the easy-to-clean effect is critical. Normally, limestone adhe-res very strongly to its for example glass substrate, and it is difficult to remove. The coating however pre-vents this contact betwe-en the limestone and the glass and actually makes the limestone very easy-to-clean. This is where the most si-gnificant value is given. The good coating will self-clean enough and signifi-cantly postpone the need for cleaning, but ultimately that need becomes unavoi-

contact angle of a sessi-le water drop. This is not completely wrong, but is, however, incomplete. The contact angle of a ses-sile drop does not assess in any sense the dynamic behaviour that takes place, which is of most interest when examining how ea-sily a drop moves on the surface. The only coatings that truly enrich the sur-face with a ‘self-cleaning’ effect are those containing functionalized nano-parti-cles. No durable solution containing nano-particles has been reported without producing a haze on the surface. SwiSS-9 has also resear-ched these technologies but does not commercia-lize them to avoid intro-ducing potentially harmful substances on the market. As no consensus has been reached between the medi-cal and scientific commu-nities on the danger of na-no-particles, the company does not employ them, and provides only coatings

Three shower enclosures coated with competing easy-to-clean coatings after 6 months long shower simulations where each shower enclosure was wetted twice a day.CareTec is in the middle

SwiSS-9, GmbH, mbH

Aarbergerstrasse 3-5 NidauCH-2560 SwitzerlandTel: +41 – 78 – 9354565Fax: +41 – 33 – 2284490E-mail: [email protected]


ure mar-that

Water drops atop CareTec coated

glass slide

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COATING TECHNOLOGY SwiSS-9var.glassonline.com/uploads/publications/section...SwiSS-9, GmbHmbH Aarbergerstrasse 3-5 Nidau CH-2560 Switzerland Tel: +41 – 78 – 9354565 Fax: +41 –