Release Date: 10/10/2008
Battelle Advanced Materials Applications scientist Mike Clingerman has seen the future and it’s a powder made from beans.
For the largest part of human history, humans made paints and other coatings from natural materials. But since the discovery of oil we have used that seemingly endless resource as the foundation for all our coatings.
As it turns out, there is not an endless supply of oil and now we see the wisdom of making paints from renewable sources. Today, old meets new as modern chemists have transformed soy beans into powder coatings that work like oil-based paint but are much more efficient, easier to transport, and use less energy.
“We can’t keep doing what we used to do,” said Clingerman, a Principal Research Scientist at Battelle who holds a PhD in organic chemistry from The Ohio State University. “We need new answers to old problems.”
Clingerman is part of a team in the Advanced Materials Applications group at Battelle that is pushing the envelope of new discovery in powder coatings. In advancement of that agenda, he will teach a portion of the course on Green Materials for Coatings at the FutureCoat Symposium in Chicago on Oct. 14, sponsored by the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology (http://www.coatingstech.org/Programs/index.cfm?event=FCShortCourses).
Battelle is the world’s largest non-profit independent research and development organization, providing innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing needs through its four global businesses: Laboratory Management, National Security, Energy Technology, and Health and Life Sciences. It advances scientific discovery and application by conducting $4 billion in global R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle oversees 20,400 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide, including seven national laboratories which Battelle manages or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Contact National Media Relations Manager Katy Delaney at (410) 306-8638 or delaneyk@battelle.org or T.R. Massey, media relations specialist, at (614) 424-5544 or masseytr@battelle.org for more information.
