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Zinc oxide particles protect against sunburn
Z-COTE® is a special zinc oxide which, used in sun creams, offers protection against sunburn. The nanopowder is used as a broadband filter against harmful UVA and UVB radiation.
The fine zinc oxide particles in Z-COTE act as inorganic UV filters by reflecting the incident UV light like tiny mirrors. Since conventional zinc oxide pigments are white, they can produce an undesired whitening effect on the skin. This is prevented by reducing the size of the pigment particles to about 200 nanometers which makes them transparent.
An additional benefit: the zinc oxide particles have an antimicrobial action and can also relieve skin irritation.
Further information:
Science around us: UV-filters
Nanotechnology
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Pickering emulsions: dispersing water insoluble substances in water
An emulsion is a mixture of two liquids such as water and oil. One liquid is present in the form of droplets and is dispersed in the other liquid. Depending on which liquid is in droplet form, we speak of an oil-in-water or a water-in-oil emulsion. Emulsifiers and surfactants are important components of emulsions, as they promote the formation of droplets and thereby stabilize the mixture.
But certain solids can also be added to stabilize an emulsion, that is, to prevent it from separating out into two different liquids. These solid-stabilized and thus surfactant-free emulsions are called Pickering emulsions. They are named after their discoverer S.U. Pickering and can be seen in this picture. With this technique, a hydrophobic – in other words, not miscible with water – active agent is enclosed in micrometer sized oil droplets. These are stabilized by nanometer sized particles made of a biodegradable polymer.
Systems like this are suitable for introducing hydrophobic agents such as agrochemicals, pharmaceutical active ingredients or vitamins into aqueous formulations. Pickering emulsions are also used in cosmetic products such as sun creams.
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Paliocrom keeps cars gleaming
Because of their smooth surface, Paliocrom® Orange pigments are used mainly for automotive coatings. They consist of aluminum flakes coated with a thin layer of iron oxide measuring only a few nanometers. Even at 1600 fold magnification the extremely thin iron oxide films are still smooth – and thus optimally reflect the light. They also guarantee bright colors. The high covering power of the pigments is also important for automotive coatings. Paliocrom Orange is particularly suitable for orange shades and red metallics.
Further information:
Pigments
Nanotechnology
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Astacin Novomatt keeps leather matt, supple and clean
The leather matting agent Astacin Novomatt® is used for coating leather surfaces. The dispersion is suitable for any leather surface. In particular, Astacin Novomatt is ideally suited for the treatment of automotive leather.
The inorganic or organic matting agents based on the aqueous acrylate or polyurethane dispersions used for coating are distinguished by their long service life on the leather surface. Besides the matting effect, Astacin Novomatt also endows the leather with a soft handle and protects it against soiling.
Further information:
Automotive Leather
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Nanocubes act as a storage medium for hydrogen
The desire to be mobile and yet not to be without communication and entertainment had led to ever smaller and lighter electronic devices. Whether it’s laptops, cell phones or CD players, a key issue is how to power these portable devices. What batteries do today could in the future be done by mini fuel cells. Hydrogen could act as a source of energy provided that the problem of storage for its use in mobile devices can be solved. A possible storage medium for hydrogen would be nanocubes made of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), whose properties are currently being tested by BASF researchers.
Further information:
Nanotechnology
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Nanofoams
BASF is working on a new generation of foams with a cell size no longer in micro but in nanometer size. The idea behind these nanocellular foams is to reduce the cell size until they correspond to the mean free path of a gas molecule. This would cause the exchange of heat, which is the result of collisions between gas molecules, to come to a virtual standstill. The resulting foams would have thermal insulating properties similar to those of vacuum plates without the need to use a vacuum. This would improve the insulating performance of a foam by more than 50 % or reduce by more than half the material thickness required for a given insulating performance.
Further information:
Nanotechnology
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SlurryGloss - an environmentally friendly automotive coating
The clearcoat SlurryGloss is used in automotive production line coating. Unlike other car coatings, it is environmentally friendlier because organic solvents were replaced by water.
The coating particles seen in the picture are formed during a certain production step known as dispersing of the binders in the aqueous phase. After the coating is applied, the particles melt during the baking process to produce a colorless, high-gloss clearcoat. This coat is particularly resistant to light, weatherproof and scratch-resistant and is also resistant to aggressive contaminants such as bird droppings.
The network outside the coating particles consists of additives which – in combination with the adjusted particle size – are important for application of the clearcoat film and for its flow characteristics on the substrate.
Further information:
Clearcoats
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Versatile range of uses for carbonyl iron powder
Carbonyl iron powder (CIP) was industrially produced for the first time by BASF 80 years ago. It has a wide variety of applications, for example in metal injection molding in conventional powder metallurgy, in the production of diamond tools, microwave absorbing materials and in inductor cores of electronic components.
CIP is also incorporated in magnetic printing inks used to create security features on credit cards, tickets, banknotes or passports. CIP's unique electromagnetic properties, among others, make it superior to competitor materials.
CIP is produced by the thermal decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl. During this decomposition process, spherical iron particles with the characteristic shell structure are formed.
Further information:
Carbonyl Iron Powder
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Nanotechnology makes textile fibers dirt-repellent
Nanoparticles give the surface of these textile fibers a structure with an effect similar to that of the lotus plant’s leaves. From the leaves of this plant water and dirt just roll off. This effect makes the fibers water- and dirt-repellent. Tiny particles measuring less than 100 nanometers on the textile fibers produce a similar self-cleaning effect. These surfaces are coated with billions of these nanoparticles so close together that a speck of dust wouldn't fit between them. Between a particle of dirt and the surface of the textile fibers, a layer of air is formed on which the impurities "hover" – and can simply be washed off with water. Even stubborn dirt is then easy to remove.
The nanocoating has so far been applied mainly to engineering textiles, such as fabrics for tents, awnings or sunshades. But materials used for work clothing and home textiles will also be benefiting from this new technology in future.
Further information:
Science around us: self-cleaning effects for textiles
Nanotechnology
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Keroflux optimizes diesel fuels
Diesel fuels are complex mixtures of hydrocarbons containing wax particles known as paraffins. At low temperatures these paraffins form large plate-like crystals that adversely affect the flow properties of diesel fuel. The consequence: after cold winter nights diesel engines may have difficulty starting. To prevent this happening, flow improvers like Keroflux® are used to reduce the crystalline growth of the paraffins. More precisely: the Keroflux wax dispersers can disperse and reduce the size of paraffin crystals and prevent paraffin deposits forming in diesel tanks. Diesel powered vehicles then start without problem even at low temperatures.
Further information:
Performance Chemicals
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Neopor insulates better
Neopor® is the improved form of Styropor®, BASF's classic among insulating materials. Neopor is made of blowing agent-containing and thus expandable polystyrene granules. The photo shows the bead-shaped particles after processing into foam blocks.
Using an innovative technique, BASF has succeeded in integrating infrared absorbers and reflectors into the foam. They prevent the conduction of heat even at low material densities. Thus, Neopor provides a much better insulating performance than classical material because it insulates as good as, for example, Styropor, using much less material. This means that foam manufacturers save up to 50 percent on raw materials. Neopor panels are also approximately half the weight of their Styropor counterparts.
Further information:
Neopor®
Science around us: 3-liter house
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Silver flakes make plastics conductive
Silver is the most electrically conductive of all metals. When tiny flakes of silver are combined with non-conductive materials - such as plastics - the conductivity of the silver flakes can greatly extend the range of possible uses of plastics.
Conductive plastics are in demand in the electronics industry, for example, as they are highly suitable for applications in which high-quality components have to be protected against electrostatic discharge or stray electromagnetic radiation – in the housings of electric motors, for instance. Conductive plastics also open up new possibilities for designing electronic components and equipment.
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