The news which Zipperling is presenting at the fair K '95 in Düsseldorf are felt by international experts to be really sensational: the first organic metal, Polyaniline, is presented by Zipperling, a medium sized company in Germany. After almost 15 years of basic research Zipperling is reporting about the realisation of first continous commercial applications of this completely new class of materials after its first introduction 3 years ago.
Zipperling is offering a whole range of products which make PAni useful in various markets. PAni itself is a powder which is not processable due to lack of melting behaviour and solubility. Zipperling's approach to develop a dispersable PAni quality and practically useful dispersions finally proved to be successful - in contrast to world-wide expert's opinions.
PAni dispersions are commercially available in form of lacquers and paints, and for research and development also as pure dispersions and thermoplastic polymer blends.
Applications have been realized as transparent coating for various substrates,
for transparent antistatic products with humidity-independent antistatic properties. The surface resistance can be fine tuned in a range between 103 and 109 ohm/sq. It is especially interesting that injection molded boxes of PP or PE can be spray coated. Continous procedures have been developed for this.
Boxes in any colour and with abrasive resistant coatings can be produced. The advantage for the producer is to avoid long and expensive change-over time after injection molding of carbon black containing compounds.
Also transparent films can be produced. Zipperling is offering a ready coated Polyester film ("INCOFILM").
Data sheet are available
A new application of comparable PAni lacquer dispersions is on the way to practical application in the market: the replacement of one very material ineffecient step in the complex manufacturing of printed circuit boards using a thin PAni coating.
Zipperling found and evaluated a completely new process of corrosion protection for metals like iron, steel, copper or aluminum: PAni, if properly applied, is able to passivate them.
Zipperling found that PAni is not only an organic metal, but can be classified as a noble metal. In metallic contacts, PAni is shifting the corrosion potential of the coated metal by up to 800 mV towards the noble range. Not only this, PAni is causing a complex reaction analysed by Zipperling, in the course of which a 1 micron thin defined and pure, dense and firmly adhering iron oxide layer is formed between the metall surface and the PAni coating.
These two effects are responsible for a dramatic decrease of the corrosion rate by a factor of five to 10.000!
Zipperling developed for the realisation of this effect a range of suitable PAni primers, which are used with a layer thickness of only 20 micron, offering a better corrosion protection than zinc filled epoxy primers or other 2-component primers used at a much higher coating thickness.
Several tests at Zipperling, at Zipperling customers, at neutral technical and research institutes have shown that the corrosion protection is superior.
A first commercial product has been introduced, a corrosion repair set called "CORREPAIR". It is being sold as a test marketing in the county Stormarn around Ahrensburg, where Zipperling is located.
Zipperling's president and at the same time its chief research chemist is relativating the present status: "Not only the introduction of this completely new material, with properties unknown up to now for a polymer or a metal, in the coating market will be a long term task; even more this is the case for its introduction in the corrosion protection market.
People have to be sure that it is superior, and will test it for years before they apply it. We on our side have to solve a lot of practiocal problems in the meantime: the adhesion on the metal, the compatibility with the bewildering number of top coatings, the many different application probems in the corrosion field, from ships to cars, from fences to machines, from acid tanks to power plants, everywhere a new demand."
Ask for data sheets and further research information.
direct information requests
extensive informations available via internet, Zipperling server http://www.zipperling.de/
Dr. B Wessling
(president)
22.09.95