Jun 27 2018
AZoNano editor Alina catches up with Don Lawrence, SGMA, at HiPerNano 2018.
Please give an overview of your company.
My company is called SGMA, which stands for Sol-Gel Coatings and Advanced Materials. It's a process that the founder, Dr. Fanya came to about three or four years ago when she was looking into Sol-Gel and how it could be used.
From that, she's developed this particular formulation, which can be used for several applications, but the one that we're trying to push forward which is hydrophobicity and making materials hydrophobic.
What we have found in the process of doing that is that the end product is not only hydrophobic, but also it's antibacterial, antimicrobial and non-toxic - which means the product, once it's used and finished in whatever form that you want, just goes back into nature.
What are you promoting at HiPerNano today?
In particular, these are our coating agents. When our solution is put onto textiles, it will not only clean it, but will also make it non-toxic and anti-microbial in terms of getting rid of growth, and hydrophobic so water doesn't get through.
What are the applications of your solutions?
Take the building industry for instance. I've brought some sample wooden boards with me today. One piece totally uncoated. Another piece which has literally just been dipped in our solution and pulled back out again, allowed to dry. These have been left outside on a veranda for a month in all the rain and weather and you can see where that has actually expanded in size whereas the coated one has not changed at all. It stayed the same so no absorption of water. No changes at all.
That's where this solution has been wiped over the top of it actually formed - atop the edge, will be coated on top so it would repel water. So in the building industry it's protection of walls, protection of anything anyone is building in the building industry.
It does have a range of other applications, for example we recently had an interesting enquiry from somebody who wanted to look to see whether this solution could be used in tanks and those tanks contained we say large amounts of liquid chocolate.
What types of people are you wanting to talk to at the event today?
We want to see and learn about what's going on in the Nanotechnology world and we also want people in this field to come and see us and what we are offering.