Beyond the sea
We are considering taking the surface treatment we have been trying at sea to equipment on land and to everyday products. Professor Kuroda, our technical supervisor, has also made exhibits and prototypes himself.
All of these exhibits and prototypes were made by Professor Kuroda, our technical supervisor, himself, and they use the same surface treatment. One keeps things off (the scissors); the others help things take hold (the gold film, the gold beads and the ceramic). They are not our products, and none of them is on sale. The rope that eelgrass seeds take root on (exhibit 05) is on the eelgrass page, and the treated rice husks (exhibit 06) are on the rice husk page.
An exhibit: scissors with a fluorine-based agent, also used in dental care, fixed to the surface of the blades, so that tape sticks to them less. It works the same way as the treatment of the brass propeller tested in the sea at Kure in the KAKEN-funded research. It uses no copper, silver or anything else that kills living things.
A sample: kraft tape whose surface has been finished so that it peels off easily, with a very thin layer of gold fixed to it. It shows that a chosen material can be fixed even to a surface things don’t stick to easily.
A prototype: small beads given a very thin layer of gold. It draws on a property of gold that is said to make it harder for bacteria to multiply: the aim is to put the beads in shoes and hold back the bacteria that cause odour.
An exhibit: a ceramic whose surface has been treated so that microbes settle on it. It is close to the filter media put in aquarium tanks. We are considering its use in septic tanks and other equipment that uses microbes to clean water.
We are considering whether the treatment that keeps metal surfaces clean could also protect rails and other metal from rust and corrosion.
Professor Kuroda’s research, which the technology grew out of, has also extended to protecting metals from corrosion.
Talk to us about “Protecting metal from rust and corrosion”
We are considering taking the antifouling treatment tried on glass under water to the glass of equipment on land, such as vehicle windows, sensors and lenses.
Talk to us about “Keeping glass clean (vehicle windows, sensors and more)”
We are considering using it to make bacterial film (slime) less likely to form on the surfaces of water systems, such as the pipes and tanks of food factories and the pipes of hot spring facilities.
Talk to us about “Bacterial film (slime) in water systems”
We are also considering giving the surfaces of medical devices and the like a property that makes it harder for bacteria to settle on them.
Talk to us about “Medical devices and more: surfaces bacteria find harder to settle on”
We are also considering using it to prevent fouling and corrosion in equipment that faces heat or needs precision, such as geothermal plants and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Talk to us about “Equipment that faces heat or needs precision (geothermal plants, semiconductor manufacturing and more)”
We are also considering using the fine footholds on a surface to hold catalysts and other materials that do a job there.
Talk to us about “Fixing catalysts and other materials to a surface”
We are also considering uses that fix a chosen material where it would not normally stick, such as urushi lacquer on plastic.
Talk to us about “Getting urushi lacquer to hold on plastic”
We are considering using the treatment we apply to rice husks to reuse other untapped biomass and urban waste as well.
Talk to us about “Reusing untapped resources (biomass other than rice husks and more)”
We are also considering uses on everyday materials, such as prints on clothing and the sheets used in hydroponic growing.
Talk to us about “Clothing prints and hydroponic growing sheets”
Keep it off
Underwater glass (windows, cameras and more)
We also take enquiries about uses we have not tried yet, such as surfaces where bacteria multiply less readily, as enquiries about your material.
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SeatecHIROSHIMA Ltd.