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NANOTECHNOLOGY AT THE SERVICE OF CERAMIC PRODUCTION: THE NEW FRONTIER OF CERAMIC'S SURFACE TREATMENTS

Zschimmer & Schwarz Ceramco and Nanoprom combine their expertises offering a new interesting scenario in the field of ceramic surface treatments

 

 

Zschimmer & Schwarz Ceramcoaccording to a vision that emphasizes the sharing of skills and the establishment of collaborations able to offer added values to the market, has recently signed into a partnership with Nanoprom, a highly qualified company in the field of nanotechnologies.

The agreement is basically focused on the distribution of a range of high performing products for ceramic surface treatment.

 

POLYTILE®, manufactured by Nanoprom and exclusively distributed by Z&S Ceramco, is the result of a technological knowledge that really seems to offer interesting and innovative news to ceramic industry.

 

The current scenario, marked by large-sized slabs and aesthetic solutions characterized by lapped or polished surfaces, seems to be running up against the lack of surface treatment’s products able of ensuring low level of dirtiness without simultaneously changing technical and aesthetic features of the final product.

Furthermore, if you consider that ceramic tiles are today exponentially expanding their application fields, it is clear that final surface treatment is a serious topic for the most of manufacturers, constantly looking for increasingly high technical performances.

 

Pollytile®, a range of products that comes from the Nanoprom’s twenty-years experience in the field of superficial coating for shipbuilding and automotive industry, finally gives a few interesting answers to a whole series of outstanding questions.

The company based in Castellarano has in fact decided to expand its business in the field of ceramic industry, choosing Zschimmer & Schwarz Ceramco as unique reliable partner capable for providing high level of technical assistance to all the end-users.

For the first time nanotechnology finally opens the door to a market yet unexplored.

 

Talking about nanotechnology means talking about sizes ten thousand times smaller than a millimetre. Through nano-sizing, known materials assume totally new characteristics acquiring technical aspects that were not present in their macroscopic capacity and modifying and/or improving their performance.

 

Polytile® is a protective coating of amorphous silicon finishing for ceramic surface.

With a layer of a few microns, the product creates a reticulation on the ceramic substrate by following the surface micro-movements without altering the structure and guaranteeing a full and effective protection against dirt and chemical agents.

The main difference introduced by nanotechnology in the field of surface protectors resides in the different arrangement of particles.

Single particles in traditional coating are arranged according to a casual logic giving the surface a certain degree of instability and an incomplete protection. Nanotechnology ensures that particles are arranged on the surface, in thinner self-organized layers, offering a complete highly stable protection.

The product can make the surface suitable for all those delicate applications where hygiene and cleanliness are of substantial importance. Thanks to the special formulation with high technical performance, POLYTILE® has got the mandatory certifications meeting the current standards and regulations in terms of food compatibility

Not only stain-resistant backsplash but also, and above all, food-contact and kitchenware-resistant worktops.

The treated surface still retains its own technical features improving the surface's hardness and, therefore, confirming a high abrasion resistance

 

If Polytile®’s benefits are obvious on the technical side, the product does not change the aesthetical features of the pre-treated surface, also improving some characteristics such as the level of opacity.

 

POLYTILE® can be applied both manually and by means of common instruments used by the ceramic industry.

The product can be easily applied by means of non-abrasive soft brushes that do not jeopardize the surface. Brushes can be easily washed thus guaranteeing their durability with a consequent saving in economic terms. The application can be also repeated over time, both to correct any defects and to restore the original tile’s properties.

 

The range is currently composed of two products – food and floors - which may be applied transversely on any type of surface (glossy, matt, natural) and it can also be customized / functionalized according to customer’s needs.

 

Finally, Nanoprom products undergo rigorous technical and toxicological testing before being marketed in order to analyse the performance and impact on people and the environment. 

Nano components used in products are not in their pure state, but are bonded within a matrix, encapsulated in a silicon film that holds them.

The size of the atomized droplets in the application phase is such that substances cannot be breathed and components, after solvent evaporation, are firmly anchored to the treated surface thereby avoiding the release of single particles.



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