BOSTON – NBD Nanotechnologies, Boston, has introduced a new coating solution that renders fingerprints invisible on metal and glass surfaces. With the patented InvisiPrint™ solution, the company helps manufacturers meet the demand by consumers for a solution that reduces or eliminates the appearance of fingerprints on products such as electronic displays, kitchen appliances, bathroom faucets and automotive interiors.
Wettability reflects the degree of liquid interaction – involving water, oil, dirt and chemicals – on the surface of products made of glass, metal, plastic or paint. Manufacturers widely use coatings or additives to enhance or reduce the wettability, or the surface properties, of their products. By precisely altering a product’s wettability, NBD Nano’s solutions enhance a product’s characteristics and value.
“Most anti-fingerprint solutions utilized today are coatings that, because of their limited ability to change surface properties, only make it easier to clean fingerprints from a surface, not diminish the appearance of a fingerprint from a surface,” said Miguel Galvez, CEO at NBD Nano. “The InvisiPrint solution is a completely different and innovative approach that renders fingerprints virtually invisible on the surfaces of metal and glass products.”
NBD Nano’s InvisiPrint system is a coating that combines hydrophobic and oleophilic properties. The result of this approach is to spread the oil of the fingerprint on the surface. This spreading allows light to pass through the fingerprint undeterred, which makes the fingerprint invisible.