A young researcher of NCFU has developed a universal waterproofing coating to be employed in a wide range of substances – from energy power production to aviation.

Waterproofing agents have become part of our life- be that a substance to protect your shoes or a jet treatment prior to a flight.

Dionis Filippov (students, 2^nd year, NCFU) has won the Student Startup contest (launched by Foundation for Innovation Support), and got great response from the Jury for the development – a universal hydrophobic agent based on silicon dioxide microspheres hydrophobized with vegetable resin acids (grant, supervisor – Andrey Blinov, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Technology of Nanostructures and Materials, NCFU). – The main advantage of it is that it is universal and can be applied to anything, - the student said – metal, textile, wood, construction materials, etc.

Unlike many foreign counterparts, this newly developed agent is not hazardous (foreign companies conventionally use fluoride, which is both a hazard and rather costly), while Dionis ‘s development can be produced from common materials manufactured in the region.

Now, the young researcher is to get One Million Rubles to run the project for a year, after which tests will follow.

Great job. Dionis!

The results of the research have been published in the Coatings journal.

Photo: Ilya Khachaturyan