NBD Nanotechnologies, the surface “wettability” experts, today introduced the first in its line of RepelShell products – an injection-grade additive that makes plastic surfaces highly repellent to water, dirt, mud, and ice. Immediate applications for NBD’s patented RepelShell for Plastics include mud- and water-resistant athletic footwear, anti-stain electronics, self-cleaning non-woven fibers, and anti-stain textiles.

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 – i.e., the surface properties – of their products. By precisely altering a product’s wettability, NBD Nano solutions dramatically enhance a product’s characteristics and value.

The core technology behind the NBD Nano RepelShell is a patented polymer blend formulation that combines highly functionalized molecules that are drop-in additives during plastic compounding. NBD’s hybrid molecule combines organic and inorganic elements that provide highly desirable structural and thermal properties.

NBD Nano RepelShell for Plastic has consumer applications that include athletic clothing, footwear, and electronic materials. In addition, industrial plastics used in energy, automotive, architecture, manufacturing, and technology could benefit from the addition of NBD Nano RepelShell. NBD’s material takes any plastic and transforms it into a highly repellent and functional surface.

“NBD Nano RepelShell is unlike any solution on the market because it delivers thermal stability and high surface performance through an injection-grade solution that gets added directly to the plastic,” said Deckard Sorensen, President at NBD Nano. “Imagine a professional soccer star playing on a super-muddy pitch – if the bottoms of the player’s cleats have RepelShell™ for Plastic, they will remain permanently and completely mud-free.”

NBD’s RepelShell for Plastic is a nanostructured chemical that is added to plastics in a powder form to create extraordinary hydrophobic and oleophobic properties. The result is a plastic that retains all of its intended mechanical properties – while also gaining extreme water and oil repellency at the surface. NBD Nano RepelShell™ only requires low-weight loadings that provide an overall cost-effective solution.

“Given the low surface energy of our molecule, the NBD plastic additive rises to the surface and results in an embedded solution that is distributed at the molecular level and highly miscible with the host resin, resulting in permanent performance without the fear of wearing or leaching off over time” said Sorensen. “The NBD additive provides end-product properties that are simply not possible with existing coatings or plastics.”