Functional Coatings

Polymer microencapsulation technology originally came from pharmaceuticals as a means of coating precious compounds for better storage or for their journey through the human body to their destination. Solid particulates, liquid droplets or gas bubbles are covered with a thin coating to give core-shell particles where the compound of interest resides inside the shell, permanently or temporarily protected from its surroundings. This principle is now generating great interest in other branches of industry such as food, agriculture, automobiles and textiles, and has given rise to numerous functional coatings applications, including: - Self-healing, anticorrosive, antistatic, anti-bacterial, fire-retardant, high-strength and conductive coatings - Functional coatings for all kinds of surfaces, materials and purposes - Biological, chemical or optical activity - Biocompatibility, thermal insulation, magnetic properties, and electronics This is the first book to concentrate on providing a concise, representative overview of this new key technology and its chemical and engineering aspects. The result is a solid introduction from first-hand practitioners working in industry and research institutions for newcomers to the field. It is equally vital reading for professionals already active in the area needing to stay abreast of developments. Swapan Kumar Ghosh is Research Engineer at Arcelor Research Industry Gent (OCAS N.V.), Belgium. His research interests focus on polymer synthesis, encapsulation, nanotechnology and functional coatings. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2000 from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, then spent two postdoc years at the Technical University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands in the Research Groups of Polymer Chemistry and Materials and Interface Chemistry, respectively. Apart from various other awards and scholarships, he received the first prize in the national essay competition of the Indian Thermal Analysis Society, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India and obtained a Senior Research Fellowship from the Indian Government Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1999.