Products and solutions Oct 5, 2006 10:00 AM
New transparent coating Silver Ice combats fingerprints
Whether it's escalator trim, refrigerators or extractor hoods - fingerprints are normally extremely difficult to remove from polished stainless steel. A new transparent stainless steel coating called 'Silver Ice' from ThyssenKrupp Nirosta, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Stainless AG, now makes fingerprints virtually invisible. 'Silver Ice' is ideal for numerous applications, such as household and kitchen equipment, furniture, paneling, elevators and escalators. "This coating from ThyssenKrupp Nirosta is a new and innovative product that offers end users many advantages and has good market prospects," says Dr. Panicos Papaiacovou of ThyssenKrupp Nirosta, who was responsible for development: "The finish is scratch-resistant, chemically resistant, formable and virtually invisible, so the elegant appearance of the stainless steel is preserved." ThyssenKrupp Nirosta is presenting the new 'Silver Ice' coating at its booth at the "BAU 2007" show in Munich (January 15-20).
ThyssenKrupp Nirosta developed the new anti-fingerprint/easy-to-clean coating to production readiness in a four-year joint effort with the company Henkel KGaA. Industrial implementation took place this year in the plant of ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni (Italy). The subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Stainless AG produces 'Silver Ice' for the world market. During manufacture, a colorless, transparent, 2 to 3 micrometer thick coating is applied to the stainless steel surface. To allow adequate protection against the rigors of kitchen use, a coating system was developed for 'Silver Ice' which is cured not by heat but by ultraviolet radiation. The intensive radiation and the components in the coating result in high basic hardness. The use of nano particles of extremely hard material increases scratch resistance. Even aggressive abrasives, which can leave scratches on unprotected metal surfaces or coatings that are too soft, have no chance against 'Silver Ice'.
ThyssenKrupp Nirosta, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Stainless, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of stainless flat products with a wide range of grades, sizes and finishes. ThyssenKrupp Stainless AG (Duisburg) is the holding company for all the ThyssenKrupp Group's activities in flat-rolled stainless steel and nickel alloys. Its six subsidiaries with plants in Germany, Italy, Mexico, China and the USA employ a total of 12,200 people. In fiscal year 2004/2005 the company achieved sales of around 5.6 billion euros.