MesoCoat Inc.'s PComP nanocomposite cermet coatings have been identified and selected as a breakthrough nanotechnology of potential benefit to the oil and gas exploration and production industry by EPNanoNet. MesoCoat Inc.'s CEO, Andrew Sherman will participate in the first EPNanoNet webinar on Sept 28th, to brief leading oil and gas industry members on the company's nanocomposite coating solutions for extending equipment life and operational envelopes in extreme environments. This is the first in a series of "Nanotechnology for E&P" webinars to be hosted by EPNanoNet, and MesoCoat was chosen as one potentially stand-out technology over a highly competitive pool of nanotechnology-based solutions companies and technologies to participate in this flagship event. EPNanoNet was launched in 2008 with the mission of accelerating the development and uptake of nanotechnology within the upstream oil and gas exploration and production industry.

MesoCoat's PComP nanocomposite cermet family of coatings incorporate solid lubricant and other ceramic nanoparticles into a hard, tough, extremely durable coating system that is used to protect metal parts from wear and corrosion in extreme environments, such as those encountered in the E&P industry. The PComP coatings are applied using thermal spray, and provide up to 10 times life extension over carbide and hard chrome coatings in sliding wear applications because of extremely low coefficients of friction combined with high hardness. The nanocomposite coatings also provide improvements in ductility, toughness and spallation resistance compared to ceramic coatings such as diamond like carbon, tungsten carbide, or alumina-ceramic, and are easier and faster to apply and grind than conventional, larger grain size coating materials.

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PPG Industries' protective and marine coatings (PMC) business has introduced PSX 700SG for use by United States Navy vessels and other federal marine coatings applications

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The pipe coating industry was affected by the global economic crisis, but the magnitude, timing and duration of the effects varied broadly from region to region and even among countries in the same region. In Asia, volumes continued to grow during the crisis (driven primarily by sustained activity in China), albeit considerably less than previously expected

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The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) has named its top ten green building projects for 2010 and at least five of them feature environmentally advanced glass or coatings made by PPG Industries.

The curtain wall for Manitoba Hydro Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, features Starphire ultra-clear glass in combination with Duranar XL and Duracron coatings on the mullions. Duranar XL coatings were used for exterior mullion finishes, and Duracron coatings were applied on all non-anodized interior mullions.

The Michael J. Homer Science and Student Life Center in Atherton, California, and Manassas Park Elementary School in Virginia both feature Solarban 70XL glass, the industry’s highest-performing solar control, low-emissivity (low-e) glass.

Twelve/West, a mixed-use building in Portland, Oregon, is the first urban building with wind turbines in the U.S. Duranar XL Bright Silver coating was used to cover the building’s exterior aluminum surfaces, and standard Duranar coatings were specified inside the building.

Lastly, the City of Watsonville Water Resources Center in California incorporates 2,215 square feet of Solarban 60 solar control, low-e glass.

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AkzoNobel has cemented its position as a global sustainability leader after being ranked in first place in the chemicals supersector on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes (DJSI). The latest listing reveals that AkzoNobel achieved the highest total score in the sector and improved on last year's second place.

"Our first place ranking, coupled with our consistent performance over the last few years, is clear evidence of how successfully sustainability is being integrated into our global operations," said CEO Hans Wijers, who also acknowledged the contribution made by the company's employees around the world. We are fully aware that the future success of our customers and our own business activities is inextricably linked to the effectiveness of our sustainability efforts. We therefore refuse to let our standards slip and will continue to strive for improvement in all areas in order to maintain our leadership status."

Listed on the DJSI for the last six years, AkzoNobel has been relentless in reinforcing its commitment to sustainability, emphasized by the company's decision to link 50 percent of the long-term incentive for its senior executives to the performance on the influential ranking.

Regarded as one of the world's foremost sustainability indices, the DJSI World Index benchmarks the sustainability performance of leading companies based on environmental, social and economic performance, including forward-looking indicators.

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Colorcon, Ltd. has opened a new technical service laboratory in Turkey. Located in Atasehir, the southern area of Istanbul, the new laboratory contains fully equipped processing suites for laboratory-scale immediate and modified release film coating trials. The facilities are available for customer use, operating under the highest standards of confidentiality and safety. They provide a convenient resource for formulators to test aqueous or organic solvent coatings and identify the most effective system and production process for their pharmaceutical or food supplement dosage formulations. According to Martti Hedman, president of Colorcon Ltd., the investment in the Istanbul technical service facility will save customers development time and cost. "Colorcon plans continued capital investment and expanded services in the region," he said. "We look forward to conducting our first Colorcon Coating School at the new facility in early November and are pleased that the new labs will accommodate hands-on, practical sessions to enhance the learning experience for attendees." Headquartered in Harleysville, PA/USA, Colorcon manufactures formulated film coating systems, modified release technologies and functional excipients for the pharmaceutical and nutritional industries. The new lab represents the seventh Colorcon technical service laboratory in the EMEA region, and brings the number of facilities Colorcon offers worldwide to 18.

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NeverFade paint, warranted to last 15 years against fading, has been named a winner of the 2010 Most Valuable Product (MVP) Awards presented by Building Products magazine. Man­ufactured by APV Engineered Coatings, NeverFade professional exterior paint is formulated with Kynar Aquatec polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to make it resistant to fading, algae, fungus, stains and abrasions.
“While the residential construction industry sees hundreds of new products introductions each year, the MVP winners stand apart for their thoughtful design, smart technologies or even pure wow factor,” said Jean Dimeo, editorial director for Building Products and ebuild.com. “In a struggling economy, it’s innovations like these that can help contractors woo customers, save time and money, and surpass the competition.”

APV Engineered Coatings worked with Arkema, Inc. to create NeverFade paint. Kynar Aquatec is dispersed into the water-based formula for NeverFade paint, so VOCs are drastically reduced, making NeverFade. The homopolymer in Kynar Aquatec is a tough, engineered thermoplastic that offers a balance of properties. As a result, NeverFade paint withstands harsh thermal, chemical and ultraviolet environmental conditions. In essence, it resists abrasions, restricts the growth of mold and mildew, and will not pick up dirt.

“We created this top-of-the-line exterior paint with ultraviolet blockers and high quality pigments mixed with fluoropolymer resin to prevent against fading and chalking,” said David Venarge, chairman of APV Engineered Coatings. “To show our confidence in this product, we provide an unprecedented 15-year warranty against fading. In the unlikely event that someone is obliged to apply the warranty, we will provide the replacement of the product and payment for job-related labor costs.”

Available nationwide for use on both residential and commercial projects, NeverFade may be applied to vinyl siding, PVC, wood, aluminum siding, stucco, masonry and fiber cement surfaces. Since each paint order is custom made, NeverFade is available in an unlimited number of colors. 

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AkzoNobel is to significantly boost its presence in the Chinese automotive market after agreeing to acquire Changzhou Prime Automotive Paint Co., Ltd. Prime is one of China's largest vehicle refinish suppliers and a leader in the fast-growing mid-market segment. This sector is estimated to double in size within the next five years. Based in Jiangsu Province, the company develops, manufactures, markets and distributes automotive coatings, primarily for the refinish market. The agreement follows AkzoNobel CEO Hans Wijers' recent announcement at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai that the company plans to double its revenue in China to $3 billion within five years.

"This is an excellent deal involving an extremely well run business which gives us strong representation in one of China's most promising growth segments," said AkzoNobel's board member responsible for performance coatings, Leif Darner. "Our global capability, combined with Prime's marketplace knowledge, products and technical know-how, creates an enviable strategic proposition and will allow us to significantly grow ahead of the market."

Through its car refinishes business, AkzoNobel is mainly active in China's premium and commercial vehicle refinish sector, represented by its Sikkens, Lesonal and Miluz brands. The Prime agreement now opens up an opportunity to become the clear market leader in the attractive vehicle refinish mid-market segment.

"I am very happy to have concluded such an exciting deal, which promises great things for the future," said Prime chairman and CEO, Bao Yifan, who will retain a key role within the business. "With AkzoNobel's scale and expertise, we are ideally positioned to continue growing strongly and aim to capture further market share."

"This is an important transaction which gives us access to superior products and new technologies—supported by strong brands and a loyal distributor base—enabling us to gain a competitive advantage in a market with sizeable potential where we previously had limited presence," said Keith Power, AkzoNobel's regional director for the car refinishes business in Asia.

AkzoNobel currently employs around 6,500 people in China, with the country hosting 11 percent of the company's research, development and innovation resources. Revenue for 2009 totaled $1.5 billion.

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Sto Corp. is set to begin operations in Santiago, Chile to support an expanding market in the region. Sto Corp. has been working in partnership with a group in Santiago since 2006 and has now completed an acquisition of manufacturing and marketing operations to help support the growing market there. Target markets include both commercial and residential as well as exporting material to other Latin American countries. The operations will manufacture wet materials on-site along with stocking meshes and other materials needed to supply multiple markets. Sto Corp., based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a producer of a broad range of cladding and coating systems for building construction, maintenance and restoration. Sto Corp. is ISO 14001:2004 as well as ISO 9001:2008 certified and operates production plants strategically located to serve more than 200 distributor shipping locations across North and South America. Sto Corp. is a subsidiary of Sto AG, headquartered in Stühlingen, Germany, located in the heart of the Black Forest.

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BASF Coatings in India has received three supplier awards from Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI). BASF received the Best Supplier Award for its performance in the paints category for the year 2009 from major motorcycle manufacturer HMSI. This is the third consecutive and fourth time in the past five years that BASF in India has earned the title for the Best Performance in Paints category. Tata Motors Limited, India's largest automobile company, awarded BASF with the Best Supplier Award for its performance in the paints category for the year 2008-2009, considering parameters such as quality, cost, delivery and development. Mahindra, leader in the utility vehicle (UV) segment in India, honored BASF with the Best Performance Award in Value Addition and Value Engineering category for the year 2009-2010. Today, BASF is one of the top three players in the thriving automotive coatings industry in India, supplying all major automotive and motorcycle companies. 

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