EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Functional Industrial Coatings

涂料在日常生活中无处不在，确保了数以百万计的产品和工艺的功能、耐用性和美观。涂料的使用在建筑、汽车、航空航天、包装和能源等多个行业中都是必不可少的，因此，该行业每年有相当大的价值27亿GB，在制造商和供应链中雇佣了30多万人。我们驾驶的汽车在耐用性和美观方面都依赖于先进的涂层技术。飞机只能在恶劣的飞行条件下通过涂层生存下来。这些涂层是多材料体系，化学成分受到严格控制，大规模开发和应用涂层具有挑战性。目前大多数涂料表面是被动的，因此存在通过开发功能性工业涂料来改造这些产品的机会。例如，下一代建筑将使用涂层技术将能量的产生、储存和释放嵌入到建筑的结构中。光催化涂层表面可以用于清洁流出物，抗微生物涂层可以彻底改变医疗基础设施。这意味着，新一代涂料将为制造商提供更大的增值效益和产品差异化机会。将这些技术转化为工业产品的主要挑战是涉及这些新涂层系统的开发、应用和耐久性的复杂科学。因此，通过CDT，我们的目标是培训50名具有基础科学专业知识和研究敏锐性的EngD研究工程师(RES)，以弥合这一知识差距。我们的RES将收集涂料制造方面的专业知识：-待涂布的基材和附着力的内在挑战-对从光伏材料到智能防腐涂料等多种先进功能涂料技术的基本化学和物理了解-涂料应用和固化过程的化学和物理挑战-在环境暴露方面评估涂料的耐久性和寿命，例如耐腐蚀性和耐光降解性-在整个制造路线中植入负责任和可持续的工程理念，以解决材料稀缺问题和材料在使用寿命结束时的命运。为了应对这些挑战，CDT与行业合作伙伴共同创建了CDT，以确保培训和研究符合制造商和学术界的需求，从而为研究翻译提供了一条途径，并提供了一条能够领导行业下一代产品和流程的人才管道。这些先进的涂层技术需要对其开发、应用和耐用性有新的科学理解，因此，学术影响也很大，使我们的RES也在学术界处于领先地位。

Coatings are ubiquitous throughout day to day life and ensure the function, durability and aesthetics of millions of products and processes. The use of coatings is essential across multiple sectors including construction, automotive, aerospace, packaging and energy and as such the industry has a considerable value of £2.7 billion annually with over 300,000 people employed throughout manufacturers and supply chains. The cars that we drive are reliant on advanced coating technology for their durability and aesthetics. Planes can only survive the harsh conditions of flight through coatings. These coatings are multi-material systems with carefully controlled chemistries and the development and application of coatings at scale is challenging. Most coatings surfaces are currently passive and thus an opportunity exists to transform these products through the development of functional industrial coatings. For example, the next generation of buildings will use coating technology to embed energy generation, storage and release within the fabric of building. Photocatalytic coated surfaces can be used to clean effluent streams and anti-microbial coatings could revolutionise healthcare infrastructure. This means that this new generation of coatings will offer greater value-added benefits and product differentiation opportunities for manufacturers. The major challenges in translating these technologies into industry and hence products are the complex science involved in the development, application and durability of these new coatings systems. Hence, through this CDT we aim to train 50 EngD research engineers (REs) with the fundamental scientific expertise and research acumen to bridge this knowledge gap. Our REs will gather expertise on coatings manufacture regarding:- The substrate to be coated and the inherent challenges of adhesion- the fundamental chemical and physical understanding of a multitude of advanced functional coatings technologies ranging from photovoltaic materials to smart anti corrosion coatings- the chemical and physical challenges of the application and curing processes of coatings- the assessment of coating durability and lifetime with regards to environmental exposure e.g. corrosion and photo-degradation resistance - the implantation of a responsible and sustainable engineering philosophy throughout the manufacturing route to address materials scarcity issues and the fate of the materials at the end of their useful life. To address these challenges the CDT has been co-created with industry partners to ensure that the training and research is aligned to the needs of both manufacturers and the academic community thus providing a pathway for research translation but also a talent pipeline of people who are able to lead industry in the next generation of products and processes. These advanced coating technologies require a new scientific understanding with regards to their development, application and durability and hence the academic impact is also great enabling our REs to also lead within academia.