Nano-technology paint

[frenchian]

My BiL is normally a serious chap. About 15 years ago, he renovated a 17th century scottish building. After a year or two, he painted most of the inside with some form of nano-technology paint. A miracle product, he says! It insulates the walls, so there is no more heat-loss. Plus, no more mould in cold wet corners.

I distrust miracle products, but might there be some truth in his claims?

The reason I ask is less the heat loss aspect, but I get mould in my shower/utility room during the winter. I already have a ventilation fan, and I repaint every two years or so, but if a single coat of a miracle product could cure the problem...?

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Flyfisher]

‘no more heat loss’? Hmm, makes me wonder why NASA bothered with all those space shuttle tiles if a coat of ‘nano paint’ could act as a barrier to heat transmission :wink:

Do you have a reference to this miracle paint?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

That sounds rather like the miracle invention 'Starlite' which was on 'Tomorrow's World' a few times in the 80s. Except that it never went into production as the inventor refused to patent it and thus reveal what was made of.

 

[Flyfisher]

Ha! Now you mention it, I remember that Tomorrow's World programme.

I found this article about Starlite, which includes a link to the TW programme and the egg demo:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/5158972/Starlite-the-nuclear-blast-defying-plastic-that-could-change-the-world.html

According to Wikipedia, the inventor took the Starlite formula to his grave in 2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlite

 

[frenchian]

My BiL did mention that he had to buy it from the US, but I've no more information than that (We'd both had a few glasses of wine by that time....).

I've had a look on the internet, but there are no websites promising to "Put an end FOREVER to heatloss and mould! Just one coat of...."

On a more realistic note, then, do the anti-mould paints for kitchen/bathroom work? If they do, it'd save me the bi-annual painting work.

Cheers

 

[Flyfisher]

As I understand things, the common mould found in homes requires a source of freshwater to thrive. This is usually a result of condensation because 'damp' coming through walls carries various salts from the mortar and plasterwork with it, which discourages mould growth. 'Starlite' magic aside, I can't really imagine how a paint could prevent condensation so I'm guessing that any 'anti mould' paint must have added ingredients to prevent mould growth - similar to whatever it is they add to tile grouting for bathrooms to prevent mould growth. Presumably the additives are poisonous to mould but not to humans!

 

[Cubist]

Wow, what a fascinating topic. Initially I thought this must be some kind of snake oil product marketed by unscrupulous people exploiting the gullible but.......

After a couple of minutes research using the inter web thingy I've come up with a huge amount of discussion materials, products and suppliers in the UK and case studies of the use of such paints to improve thermal efficiency, reduce eliminate condensation, development of mould and many more applications besides. Check these out if you want to learn more: -

https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/nanopaint
https://www.nanopartikel.info/en/nanoinfo/cross-cutting/2021-nanoparticles-in-paints
https://thermilate.com/collections/all

This stuff looks like it may well be worth further investigation and discussion, particularly for those of us with solid wall homes, and especially concerning the 'breathability' issue that is so important to many of.

I for one will be looking further into these products as in addition to the claimed headline benefits there is also the potential for significant positive contributions to environment improvement.

What did the sci-fi writers say? - "If we were ever to meet an alien race more advanced than ourselves, their technology would seem like magic to us". :shock:

Maybe its our kids - which is perhaps true on a number of different scales. :?:

 

[TheForge]

Most effective anti mildew paints and films will have fungicides and algaecides like Diuron or carbendazim in them. These are very effective at limiting mould and mildew growth, unfortunately Diuron is classed as ‘probably carcinogenic’ following very bad results on rats and carbendazim is banned in many EU countries. The larger the concentration in the paint the more effective it obviously is. It’s trade off between possible health risk and effectiveness. There are other many alternative fungicides but most effective ones have high toxicity.

 

[frenchian]

Wow, Cubist, I don't know how you did it. I never found such info last time I looked.

I've just looked again, and it's all available. This could be the answer.

Cheers