Development of a blade coating equipment for thin film deposition

• Grant number: 21/12083-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Agreement: SEBRAE-SP
• Principal Investigator: Viviane Nogueira Hamanaka
• Grantee: Viviane Nogueira Hamanaka
• Company: Autocoat Equipamentos e Processos de Deposição Ltda
• CNAE: Fabricação de máquinas e equipamentos de uso geral não especificados anteriormente ; Manutenção e reparação de equipamentos e produtos não especificados anteriormente ; Pesquisa e desenvolvimento experimental em ciências físicas e naturais
• City: Campinas
• Associated researchers: Artur Franz Keppler ; Daniele Ribeiro de Araujo ; José Enrique Eirez Izquierdo
• Associated research grant(s): 21/14935-8 - Development of a blade coating equipment for thin film deposition, AP.PIPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/06751-0 - Development of thin films by blade coating for renewable energy sources, BP.TT; 23/02877-9 - Development of multilayer polymeric films by blade coating for biomedical and cosmetic applications, BP.TT; 22/04215-0 - Development of a blade coating equipment for thin film deposition, BP.TT; 22/04656-7 - Development of multi-layer polymeric films by blade coating for biomedical as cosmetic applications, BP.TT; 22/03557-5 - Development of a blade coating equipment for thin film deposition, BP.PIPE

Abstract

The blade coating method consists in coating solution-based materials as thin films using a blade. This method presents adequate characteristics for the development of thin films of a wide range of materials in laboratory scale with low cost and potential scale-up for pilot scale. In addition to the areas where there are already reports of the use of the blade coating method, such as organic electronics and advanced materials, there is great potential for applying this method to obtain films in the field of healthcare. The blade coating equipment can be used, for example, for the development of biomaterial films for wound healing and tissue regeneration, systems for controlled drug release, long-lasting cosmetics, innovative pharmaceutical forms such as oral thin films and transdermal adhesives. In the PIPE phase I project, two prototypes (MVPs) of blade coating equipment were developed. It contributed to validate the technical-scientific feasibility of the proposed idea and showed the need to optimize some parts of the system aiming domestic and global market entry. Thus, this proposal aims to develop a lab-scale customizable and scalable blade coating equipment for thin film deposition. The implementation of features such as an air knife applicator for drying films at low temperatures will position the product as the only one in the global market with specific features for the development of perovskites, biomaterials and oral thin films. (AU)