Hydrophobic coatings: spray or plasma?

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of excitement regarding hydrophobic coatings in a can. In fact, many people ask us whether they can buy a spray-can of our coating to treat their household items. I asked the scientists at P2i for some extra info on the difference between spray-can coating and the plasma tech they use:

How do hydrophobic coatings work?

Hydrophobic coatings create a layer on top of a surface to repel water and other liquids. Because of the low surface energy created by the coating, water beads into droplets and can therefor easily roll away from the surface. 

Why doesn't P2i offer a spray coating?

There are two big differences between P2i’s plasma coating and spray-can coatings: the size of the layering and the durability. When you spray a substance out of a can onto a surface you are going to create a layer which is microns thick. Now on an online video this looks very impressive, but if you could feel the product yourself, you would immediately notice a difference. A coating which is microns thick is at a size that the human body can detect through touch (with a waxy texture or feel), and at a size that is visible, causing discoloration or a white substance you can physically see.

When you look at the types of products P2i applies its technology to, it becomes clear why spray application is not an option. For example on delicate electronics, P2i’s nano-coating is so thin that it doesn't change the thermal properties of the device. This means that it is not in danger of overheating smartphones or tablets. And at a thousand times thinner than a human hair you wouldn't even know it’s there!

How is it applied?

P2i’s coating is applied in a process called “plasma enhanced vapor deposition”. The process involves three steps.

Step One: the item is placed into a chamber which is brought down to very low pressure.

Step Two: Plasma activates the surfaces of the device making them ready to bond to the monomer which is applied as a vapor. 

Step Three: Further plasma polymerizes the monomer forming a nano-coating layer over and within the product. The chamber is brought back up to room pressure and the item removed.

So there are a few key pieces to this puzzle which ensures a more durable performance than a spray coating. Firstly, because the product is applied in a vacuum it means the vapor can get through to every nook and cranny. In fact the coating can reach nearly anywhere air can go. This means there are no weak points to attract moisture or allow corrosion damage. Secondly, the plasma activation of the surfaces ensures that the coating is chemically bonded to the product, becoming part of its physical make-up, not simply sitting on the surface where it can wipe or rub off. Finally, the plasma polymerization means the coating is applied evenly across the surfaces and so doesn't end up with clumping or disproportionately thicker and thinner points.

Where is it used?  

     

P2i works with the likes of Motorola to apply the splash-proof coating on to tablets and smartphones to give greater liquid protection, while Plantronics use it on their headsets to protect against sweat and moisture damage. Because P2i works directly with brands and manufacturers to apply the technology during production, it is essential that the coating performs to high standards and is durable for everyday use.

The Gadget Show Future Special

There’s a look of genuine concern on Jason Bradbury’s face as he says, “…are you ready for this? 500 quid in the drink”, and places the Samsung Galaxy SIII into a flask of water. Now we all know electronics and water don’t mix, but Jason is showing off Dunkable™, the latest nano-coating technology from P2i, so we are confident everything will go well.

You see Dunkable™ is a hydrophobic barrier coating which means that not only does it combat forces like capillary action (which would draw the water throughout the internals of the device) but it also acts as a barrier to stop the water and the electronics interacting at the molecular level.  

The result is that Polly and Jason can maintain a Skype video call underwater. See The Gadget Show website to watch the clip for yourself:

After the show we received a number of emails, tweets and Facebook comments, all asking where people could get their phones treated, and how much it would cost. And this is where the title of the show comes into play… “Future Special”.

What the show was, well, showing, is that P2i has developed the technology to protect devices from water damage. But now comes the futuristic part, as we look to major manufacturers to incorporate the technology into the manufacturing process. So you won’t need to pay extra to add this feature to your device, it will come as standard!

In fact, our splash-proof nano-coating technology already comes as standard on Motorola smartphones and tablets. So you can rest assured it’s protected from everyday accidental splashes and spills. In January we also announced a partnership with Alcatel who are rolling out the splash-proof technology onto their latest range of smartphones.

So although you can’t buy a phone with Dunkable™ on it yet, the future may not be that far away…

P2i at Mobile World Congress

In some ways, Mobile World Congress (MWC) is like a storm, descending on Barcelona each year, bringing thousands of the world’s leading mobile technology experts and brands, to the four day event. 

From dawn we begin to congregate at the exhibition center, like ants scurrying to be in the nest before the rain hits - only to return to the outside world again at dusk, looking like a wave of zombies, exhausted from the days exciting events.

Inside the halls the bright lights show off extravagant displays with the latest model phones and tablets for all to see. There is one booth that stands out as being a little different this year. The feature on this booth is not a phone per say but … a toilet. 

At MWC P2i is previewing its very latest technology. Named Dunkable™, this tech provides protection against accidental submergence, offering what is known in the industry as an IPx7 rating. This means the phone can survive being under one meter of water for half an hour. 

See for yourself in this video as P2i's Chief Technical Officer (the guy who invented the technology) dunks a phone in the loo:

The Butterfly Effect

If you live in the UK and happened to have tuned into BBC 1 at 9pm on Monday, you would have noticed a programme called Richard Hammond's Miracles of Nature. If you missed it, the first episode entitled: Super-Bodies can be seen on the BBC iPlayer now (UK only).

But why highlight this you maybe asking? Good question. Well, the answer is quite simple, we featured in it from 45 minutes in :)

The show, which has three, one-hour episodes, follows Richard Hammond around the world as he takes a closer look at some amazing animals and how their natural abilities are inspiring new technological developments. In the show, we learn how the way a giraffe controls it blood pressure when bending down to drink has inspired the development of fighter pilot suits to combat the stresses of g-forces. In addition, did you know that a woodpecker's skull is teaching us how to develop more protective crash helmets - demonstrated in the show by dropping a light bulb from space in a protective casing designed to be like the scull of the woodpecker.

As the episode approaches its conclusion, attention turns to South America, in particular the rainforest, where a creature with a unique ability lives, the Morpho Butterfly.



The Morpho Butterfly - As seen of BBC 1s Miracles of Nature

So what makes this butterfly unique? As you can imagine, living in the forests of South America, it rains alot, and if only a fraction of water was to be absorbed into its wing, the result would cause the butterfly to be unstable as the water would make their wings heavy and flying impossible. However, the butterfly combats this with a clever adaption, its wings are totally water repellent, meaning that any rain drops that do come into contact with it, simply bead up and roll off. Sounding familiar?

In nature, there are many examples of animals and plants that have developed water repellent surfaces to ensure they stay dry - the lotus leaf being one particular example. And of course, we have all heard of the expression 'like water off a duck's back'? Which although has different connotations, does originally refer to the way a ducks feathers repel water, staying light and dry even when submerged.

How is it then that the Morpho butterfly, lotus leaf and feathers from a duck repel water so well? To answer that you need a microscope with significant zoom. While the wings on the Morpho butterfly look and feel smooth, when viewed on the nanoscale (x1000) it is clear that they are actually made up of millions of tiny ridges. Although we can't see it with the naked eye, these invisible ridges ensure that only the smallest amounts of water actually comes into contact with the surface, resulting in the water remaining in droplet/bead form and simply rolling off.

If you are familiar with our technology you will know that any water that comes into contact with our coating beads up and rolls off. There is however a difference as to how this roll off effect is created. Our technology is applied as a surface chemistry, meaning the coating is molecularly bonded to the surface of products given it a low surface energy in order to repel water. The butterfly however, has a natural surface roughness to its wings which creates an air-liquid interface which effectively lowers the surface energy and repels water. In nature this technique works well but the reason we use a surface chemistry over roughness is due to its durability. When a roughness coating is applied to man-made objects it is not chemically bonded to its surface resulting in the durability and repellency diminishing very quickly. Not a problem in nature as the butterfly can replace its surface when required but in man-made products, a surface chemistry such as P2i technology is a more effective and reliable option for repelling water.
 
We achieve this water repellency by placing complete products within a chamber where our coating is applied in a gas form, molecularly bonding to both the external and internal materials, altering their surface energy. The result: a completely water repellent product. You can see how our coating is applied to smartphones in our video below:

For Miracles of Nature, the BBC wanted to take it one step further and we were tasked with treating more unusual items, such as a newspaper, egg carton and an entire white suit. To see the results you will have to watch the show, it is worth it we promise, but below are some stills to give you a little teaser:

Water repellent newspaper

 

Water repellent egg carton

Hydrophobic suit (As seen on BBC 1s Miracles of Nature)

As a finale, Richard discusses a dilemma that a lot of us have perhaps experienced but never really spoken about... dropping our phones down the toilet. According to the show, 19% of us admitted to having suffered this first hand! And in the majority of cases the results have not been good, e.g. a broken and dead phone.

 

This however is no longer a problem, as Richard demonstrates by dropping a P2i treated smartphone down the toilet, retrieving it when a call comes through and answering it. This showcases that with our water repellent coating, smartphones and other electronics need no longer fear accidental splashes, spill and the dreaded drop down the toilet.

 

Do check out the show if you can and if you have any questions about our technology, don't hesitate to ask in the comment box below or you can also reach us on Facebook and Twitter.

 

We will leave you will a slow-motion clip of a smartphones meeting with water but don't worry this phone was treated!

 

 

CES validates P2i as liquid repellent world leader

In January last year we attended International CES in Las Vegas where we showcased Aridion™, our liquid repellent technology for consumer electronic devices and you can read how we got on here.

For 2012 we went back to CES with an even bigger booth and a major electronic manufacturer incorporating Aridion™ into their production process.

International CES, which took place from the 10th-13th January is the world's largest tradeshow for consumer electronics as well as a showcase for the latest technologies. The 2012 event was the largest in it's 44 year history with over 153,000 attendees and more than 3,100 exhibitors gathering to see the latest technological developments.

Throughout the four days our booth maintained a continous flow of delegates keen to see a demonstration of Aridion™ technology as well as discovering how it can protect electronic devices from liquid damage and corrosion. What was also great is that many delegates who visited us last year came back to our booth, this time bringing a crowd with them interested to see the technology first hand.

Images from our booth over the four days

While the booth was busy with delegates, our technology was also picked up by a host of media and like last year, we receieved a great deal of press coverage from all kinds of sources including; PC World, Gadgetsteria, PC Advisor, Gagagadget, Nerd Reactor, Mobile Magazine, EBN News and Fox News to name but a few! There are also video features still to be posted from popular technology sites including Tech Bargins. These will be promoted on our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts once live.

The combination of media coverage, a consistantly busy booth and Hannibal, our corporate magician entertaining the crowds, once again made CES a great success for us and validated our position as the world leaders in liquid repellent nano-coating technology for consumer electronics. We are now in further discussions with leading electronic brands about applying Aridion™ to a new range of consumer devices so watch this space.

You can see a collection of our images here as well as watching a short video we have put together showing some of the highlights from our booth:

You can find out more about Aridion™ by visiting: www.p2i.com/electronics and if you have any questions about how Aridion™ works do get in contact by commenting below.

P2i

Aridion™ to take centre stage at EUHA 2011

It is conference time again and today we are in Nuremberg, Germany where the 56th International Congress of Hearing Aid Acousticians (EUHA) is taking place from the 19th-21st October.

EUHA is Europe's largest hearing aid tradeshow and this will be the first time that we have had a significant presence here.

Over the coming days, from our booth (G-14) we will be showcasing our Aridion™ technology to specialists in the hearing aid and acoustic industries.

With Aridion™ now serving three of the world's largest hearing aid manufacturers and over 5.5 million devices treated we are hoping for a very successful show and will be tweeting live which you can following via our Twitter account.

If you would like to know more about Aridion™ you can here as well as watching the video below:



We will post an update next week following up on how the show went.

Hi-TecKnowledgy - V-Lite Infinity featuring ion-mask™

Back in March we posted an article on the V-Lite Infinity Trail Running shoes featuring ion-mask™, which you can read here.

Since then the Infinity story has gone from strength to strength picking up a host of awards along the way including the Health Magazine Gear Award for the best trail running shoe (women's shoe) and the Best New Trail Shoe Award from Running Network. You can see Hi-Tec talking about the awards and the shoes at the Outdoor Retailer here.

V-Lite Infinity HPi

However, the success did not stop there. The Liquid Mountaineering viral that promoted the Infinities has now surpassed 10 million views and was even featured in an episode on the hit Discovery Channel TV show, Mythbusters:



The campaign has also been used by The Times 100 as a case study example of 'Using promotion to position a brand' which you can read here.

With the Infinity range gather a strong momentum, Hi-Tec have now produced a series of videos, filmed at the 'Hook and Bullet' lounge. Already covering the Cascadia eVent HPi (also featuring ion-mask™) the latest video focuses on the V-Lite Hpi version of the Infinity range and looks at the 'sciencey' stuff in your shoes. You can be one of the first to view it below:



Do you own a pair of Infinity's? If so, we would love to hear how they and the ion-mask™ technology works for you. Also if you have not played the Infinity Run game yet, why not give it a go.... You can also find out more about the technology that makes the Infinity 'run on water' here?

On the way to IFA 2011, Berlin

We are in full tradeshow mode here. Having not long returned from EU OutDoor in Friedrichshafen where we promoted ion-mask™ we are now heading to Berlin from the 2nd-7th September for IFA 2011, to showcase Aridion™ technology.

IFA (Consumer Electronics Unlimited) is Europe's largest consumer electronics event, presenting the latest products and innovations from all the leading brands. This will be our first time exhibiting and we can't wait.

Like previous shows, visitors to our booth (Hall 9 Booth 304) will be able to see first-hand what our Aridion™ technology can do for electronics. Delegates can also take part in live demonstrations, interact with an Aridion™ specific holographic display as well as engage with Hannibal, our corporate magician.

Hannibal

It promises to be a very exciting show. You can find out more about IFA here as well as learning more about Aridion™ in our Electronics video below:



We look forward to seeing you there! Be sure to follow us on Twitter to see how we are getting on.

Making a Splash at EU OutDoor 2011 - Friedrichshafen

So that was EU OutDoor 2011 in Friedrichshafen!

We have just returned to the office from a very successful show in Germany where we exhibited our ion-mask™ technology for the first time. EU OutDoor 2011 was also where we launched our Splash Challenge competition (more on that later).

The show which ran from the 14th-17th July, is host to leading outdoor brands from around the world.

Over the four days, those that stopped by our booth were introduced to ion-mask™ via videos, a custom designed holographic kiosk and through hands-on demonstrations of ion-mask™ treated footwear, tissues and fabrics - we even had Hannibal our own corporate magician!

ion-mask™ footwear demonstration

ion-mask™ tissue demonstration

Hannibal

We also put a short video together of our booth that you can watch below:



Overall the show was a great success and it was exciting to have many leading outdoor brands visit our booth, keen to see for themselves how ion-mask™ could benefit their products.

Already working with leading footwear brands, we are excited to see who will next adopt P2i's ion-mask™ technology.

What is the Splash Challenge?

At the start of the post we mention the Splash Challenge, so what is it? Launched at the EU OutDoor show, we gave all attendees the chance to take away with them their very own Splash the P2i Duck.

Splash is searching for water-filled adventures and attendees that picked up Splash from the show are now taking images and videos of him from around the world. A multi-lense SuperSampler camera awaits for the person who sends in the best image of Splash. If you would like to keep up to date with Splash and see how he is getting on, you can here www.p2i.com/splash - or why not follow him on Twitter.

You can see all our images from the show on our Flickr page here.

Teva launch their first mountain bike shoe featuring ion-mask™

Outdoor pursuits in particular mountain biking, is popular the world over but ensuring you have the correct footwear to match the conditions can be problematic. Help is at hand now though, thanks to Teva and ion-mask™.

Founded by a guide on the Colorado River in 1984 (who went on to produce the world's first sports sandal), Teva now lead the way in which we can engage with our environments, especially those involving water.

As Chris Hillyer, Product Line Manager for Performance Products at Teva describes it: "Water presents a paradox to Teva. It provides a year round playground but also a number of challenges, as anyone who has ever ended up with soaking wet shoes can confirm."

With this problem in mind, Teva have taken their product development one step further with the introduction of our ion-mask™ technology to their latest range of shoes for mountain biking - the Links.

The Links bike shoe is Teva's first venture into mountain biking footwear and has been designed in conjunction with professional mountain biker Jeff Lenosky, also known as the 'father' of freeride mountain biking and creator of the Mountain Games. Teva, have sponsored the games for the last five years and it is now recognized as one of the premier freeride competitions in the country.

Teva's Links Mountain Bike Shoe

The Links shoes incorporate a host of features ensuring the user remains in maximum comfort throughout the biking experience. Designed specifically for use with flat pedals and featuring Teva's Spider365 sticky rubber soles to offer maximum grip, the shoes also feature a Shoc-Pad for cushioning while on the uppers, flexible armor has been introduced in the key wear areas. Adding to this, Teva has incorporated ion-mask™ to ensure that however wet the conditions are underfoot the wearer remains dry and comfortable.

The Links are due for launch in the UK in early August 2011 but they are already being reviewed online, including Bike Rader and Outdoors Magic and if you are in America, then they are available from the official Teva site.

You can find out more about Teva here or watch their official video below:




Want to know more about ion-mask™? 

ion-mask™ is our technology for lifestyle applications including footwear, textiles, gloves, hats and apparel. You can find out more on the ion-mask™ page or watch the technology in action below:



P2i

Building up to AudiologyNOW! 2011

With the success of CES and Mobile World Congress, we have now turned our focus on exhibiting at AudiologyNOW! (AAA) which starts tomorrow in Chicago.

The event, which is the world's largest gathering of audiologists, meets annually to discuss the latest developments in hearing technology and is a key market for P2i to further promote our Aridion™ technology.

Already utilized by three of the world's largest hearing aid manufacturers, Aridion™ is well known in audiologist circles having exhibited at AudiologyNOW! last year. However our booth for this year is a significant step up from our display in 2010, below:

P2i booth - 2010

As a sign of the growth we are seeing as a company the booth that P2i will have at AudiologyNOW! 2011 reflects this expansion:

P2i booth - 2011

Featuring a podium for our corporate magician and pods to demonstrate our world leading liquid repellent nano-coating technology we also have a custom 3D hologram kiosk where you can watch all our videos and see the potential applications for our technology.

But what is really exciting is that we will also be introducing our new compact Aridion™ 8 machine to the audiologists at AAA, which has been designed specifically to address the needs of smaller hearing aid manufacturers and dispensers.

Aridion™ 8 Machine

The machine, which will be on the booth for viewing purposes only, measures only 580mm (w) x 860mm (h) x 600mm (d), meaning that it allows for cost-effective and efficient processing of lower product volumes.

And because of its size all Aridion™ 8 machines can be installed at any location that has a standard power supply and are operated at the touch of a single button.

The Aridion™ 8 opens up unique opportunities for all hearing aid manufacturers to provide the protective benefits of Aridion™ to the millions of hearing aids made each year, something that we are very excited about.

Audiologists will be able to see firsthand how compact the machine is and we will have staff available to answer all questions.

AudiologyNOW! 2011 is also another benchmark for P2i and Aridion™, as there are now over four million hearing aid users benefiting from our unbeatable protection against corrosion damage.

To find out more about Aridion™ and the Aridion™ 8 machine you can visit us at Booth 1371 during the show (7th - 9th April), we look forward to seeing you there.

Infinite Possibilities with Hi-Tec and ion-mask™

For any runner the correct footwear is essential as a wrong purchase can lead to blisters, sprains or worse and for trail runners this takes on even more significance as the terrain is undulating, filled with among other things; rocks, mud and water.

In this environment, footwear really must be up to the task, offering stability over and on rocks, grip through mud and loose surfaces, as well as liquid repellent benefits when faced with water (rain, streams or puddles).

It is with this in mind that Hi-Tec has developed the Infinity collection, designed with trail runner's comfort in mind. Incorporating a number of ground breaking technologies including ion-mask™, the Infinity range offers the highest levels of comfort by setting the standard for the ultimate lightweight shoe for adventure sports performance:



Hi-Tec, who were the first leading brand to bring ion-mask™ to the consumer marketplace with their V-Lite hiking range,  have again incorporated the liquid repellent benefits that the world leading technology offers. ion-mask™ has been applied to all HPi models and thanks to the technology, the shoes will remain dryer, lighter and cleaner when out on the trail.

While we of course carry out rigorous testing, Hi-Tec sought further third party validation and this testing proved that water uptake is reduced by 87.66% when compared to an untreated shoe.

In addition to this, the shoes also feature Vibram soles and S.U.Z.E (Seamless Upper Zone Engineering) which is unique to Hi-Tec. You can find out more about the technologies here.

Two shoes that make up the Infinity range are the men's and women's V-Lite Infinity HPi which can be seen below:


 


A fully interactive micro-site has also been built specifically for the collection, here you can find out more behind the Infinity story, including the now famous Liquid Mountaineering viral video as well as the details on all the technologies involved - www.hi-tec.com/infinity.

We are delighted that Hi-Tec has incorporated ion-mask™ technology to this industry changing collection and we would be eager to hear your thoughts on how they performed for you.

You can learn more about ion-mask™ here or visit our YouTube channel and watch our Lifestyle video.

P2i @ Mobile World Congress 2011

With the success of CES behind us, we turned our attention to the Mobile World Congress (MWC) which took place on the 14-17th February in Barcelona.

MWC is the mobile industry's key event with more than 49,000 attendees in 2010 and in 2011 the event was bigger than ever making it a perfect time for P2i to introduce Aridion™ technology to key businesses and decision makers in the mobile phone sector.

Having never attended MWC before the buzz that our technology generated was incredible. Throughout the show we found that people were often returning to the booth bringing colleagues with them to see the demonstration for themselves. From this it was evident that businesses could visualize the potential benefits of incorporating our technology into their existing or new products.

Similarly to CES, we again had our holographic display, videos and the now famous tissue demonstrations. The latter proved to make appealing video footage as we were filmed numerous times, all of which can be seen via our YouTube channel. One video stood out in particular for the amount of coverage that it produced, Microsoft's Channel 9 interview with Eric Cohill, President, P2i Inc. has now been viewed over 14,000 times as well being 'retweeted' and uploaded to countless Facebook and YouTube platforms. You can see this video below:



With a host of videos and interviews (many including myself) as well as articles written about the technology, including leading Spanish technology blog Xataka Movil and Brazilian site Baixaki we have been delighted with the interest generated from our presence at MWC. To top it off many contacts were aware of us from our attendance at CES in January.

You can see a collection of our images from MWC on our Flickr page

Next up for P2i is AudiologyNOW! Where we will be showcasing Aridion™ 8, a versatile bench top machine designed specifically for the hearing aid industry - watch this space.

In the meantime if you have any questions about Aridion™ technology please do get in contact or you can visit the Aridion site.

Dr. Stephen Coulson - CTO

Invisible Technology, Visible Results

Welcome to the P2i blog!

P2i is the world leader in liquid repellent nano-coating technology. We make good products great by applying innovative science.

The P2i name reflects the three core benefits provided by our technology: Perform, Protect, Improve. Applied to a wide range of products and materials, P2i technology transforms the performance of products without changing the look or feel.

Don't just take our word for it - seeing is believing: