Goodbye fingerprints

NBD Nanotechnologies, the Boston, USA-based surface ‘wettability’ expert, has introduced a new coating solution that renders fingerprints invisible on metal and glass surfaces. With the patented InvisiPrint solution, the company lets manufacturers successfully meet the long-standing demand by consumers for a solution that reduces or eliminates the appearance of fingerprints on products, such as electronic displays, kitchen appliances, bathroom taps and automotive interiors.

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

"Most anti-fingerprint solutions utilised today are coatings that, because of their limited ability to change surface properties, only make it easier to clean fingerprints from a surface – not diminish the appearance of a fingerprint from a surface,” said Miguel Galvez, CEO at NBD Nano. "The InvisiPrint solution is a completely different and innovative approach that renders fingerprints virtually invisible on the surfaces of metal and glass products.”

NBD Nano’s InvisiPrint system is a coating that combines hydrophobic and oleophilic properties, making it unlike any coating solution on the market today. The result of this patented approach is to spread the oil of the fingerprint on the surface. This spreading allows light to pass through the fingerprint undeterred, which makes the fingerprint invisible.

This unique approach is possible because of NBD Nano’s technological breakthrough of being able to functionalise a core molecular structure.

"The InvisiPrint system is just one example of NBD Nano’s core success: the ability to manipulate molecular structures to create enhanced solutions that will last a long time,” said Galvez. "Our industry clients are excited that we have developed a solution they have long sought: a coating that reduces or eliminates the appearance of fingerprints on glass and metal surfaces. The quest is complete!”