Bryan Koene, PhD
The Small Business Administration recently wrote an exclusive SBIR/STTR Success Story highlighting Luna Innovations’ ongoing accomplishments in transitioning government funded programs to commercial products. The success story, available here, describes Luna’s durable rain repellent coating, developed under a Navy Phase II SBIR program, and chosen for transition to the Commercialization Readiness Program (CRP) for Air Force F-16 canopies.
Luna’s rain repellent coatings were described in a blog post a few years ago, when the technology was still in its early developmental stages. Since then, Luna has coated full F-16 canopies and demonstrated excellent abrasion resistance, chemical resistance (JP-8 jet fuel, transmission fluid, de-icing fluids) and adhesion onto metal, glass and plastic surfaces. This patent pending technology was recently licensed to our marketing and distribution partner, UltraTech International, who will be selling a commercial version of the coating under the trade name Gentoo™ by summer, 2016. Gentoo™ coatings will be marketed for numerous applications in the automotive, medical and electronics markets. For example, Gentoo™ coatings have advanced to the finals of the Deutsche Bahn Innovation Challenge, where they are being evaluated as an innovative solution for soiling and graffiti on freight and passenger train cars.
The performance of the coating is demonstrated in this video, which shows an F-16 canopy half-coated with the treatment and splashed with muddy water.
About the author: Bryan Koene is Director of Luna’s Advanced Materials Group. He can be reached at koeneb@lunainc.com or 540-558-1699.