Radical new stain-resistant paint surfaces

Associate Professor Brian Hawkett at The University of Sydney will lead a $660,683 project working with Duluxgroup Australia Pty Ltd to develop radically new, stain resistant and environmentally friendly paint surfaces for the building industry. 

Surface coatings seal, strengthen, and decorate the majority of surfaces in the building industry. Despite their importance, advances in paint science have only been incremental and a truly stain resistant, robust and environmentally-friendly coating has yet to be developed.

The project, funded under the Australian Research Council Linkage Projects scheme, aims to create an advanced micro-capsule system to be used in the manufacturing of high-performance waterborne paints on a large scale.

The project will use polymer Janus nanoparticles to radically redesign architectural coatings, with the goal to reduce the use of non-renewable components, and increase stain resistance and durability.