pment in coating technology is on course to revolutionise the packaging industry. LiquiGlide Inc, founded in late 2012, has been focusing on developing the world’s first permanently wet slippery surfaces. From oil and gas, to better packaging for consumer goods, to high tech medical equipment, LiquiGlide coatings allow viscous liquids to move easily. Each coating is uniquely formulated, so LiquiGlide can create coatings to work and be safe across countless consumer and industrial applications. Libby White spoke with Mr Carsten Boers, President of LiquiGlide, to find out about the vast application scope of the coatings and the process involved behind developing this innovative technology.The award-winning LiquiGlide technology was originally developed in the Varanasi Research Group laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and has generated an enormous amount of attention from its origins in 2012. Mr Boers comments, “MIT initially focused on developing a solution for the oil and gas sector, however the coating technology can be applied to many viscous liquids in the consumer packaged goods industry. We have received a lot of attention and are only months away from commercialising the first applications of our technology.”
The coatings consist of two layers: a porous solid layer and an impregnating liquid layer and are highly durable, self-healing and rewetting. Custom designed for both food-safe and non-food-safe applications, the coatings can be easily scaled-up for full production and can be odourless, tasteless and colourless.
LiquiGlide started releasing its customized coatings to clients in late 2013. The first coating will be used commercially within a few months in a processing application, and the first consumer products with LiquiGlide coatings are expected to hit shelves in 2015, likely for products including toothpaste, mayonnaise and paint, followed by lotions, conditioners and shampoos. LiquiGlide is expecting to sign a series of exclusivity agreements with partners in many industries, providing unique opportunities for clients to differentiate their products.
The benefits of LiquiGlide for consumer brands include: highly differentiated product and packaging innovation, and increased efficiencies and less waste in processing lines, resulting in significant cost savings. LiquiGlide's coatings also provide immense benefits directly to consumers, including: improved ease of use, reduction of waste, and consistent dosage.
“We are currently focusing on providing our solutions to a broad range of markets within the consumer packaged goods industry, from paints and paint colorants to condiments and products within the health and beauty sector. We already have a range of clients spread across the globe, with a number of clients based in the US, the UK, Germany and Japan,” Mr Boers explains.
He concludes, “We believe our coating technology has huge potential to change the packaging industry over the next five to ten years as it holds a variety of benefits from reducing waste to increasing consumer value. It can also cut cost from the value chains within the packaging industry and it can eliminate the need for complicated pump modules and dispensing/closure systems. We think this is a very significant disruptive technology as it allows packaging to go back to simple yet effective designs.”
