Amid the current corona pandemic, the prevention of infections is a hot topic. The European AMiCI ePlatform network, in which Sirris is also involved, aims to accelerate the knowledge building in relation to new antimicrobial surfaces as a tool in the fight against resistant bacteria that are becoming an increasingly strong enemy in hospitals. In order to introduce the knowledge gained to the market, this project will now be followed up with an ePlatform for a test bed tool across the EU, for antimicrobial coating solutions in healthcare that will be launched on the market.

The pressure on products of fossil origin is increasing and bio-based alternatives are gaining in importance, but there is still a lot of work to be done. This is no different in the coating industry. Early this year we kicked off the project 'Bio-based coatings: an opportunity for a sustainable company and world'.

We are one step closer to germ-proof surfaces for environments such as hospitals after an unexpected discovery of a black variant of TiO2 coatings that does not require UV activation and works more effectively than existing standard TiO2 solutions.

On 25 October 2018, the IBN Cluster ‘Innovatieve Coatings’ organised, in collaboration with the IBN Cluster ‘Offshore Energy’, a workshop and matchmaking event on ‘Coating Solutions for Corrosion Protection’ at the university campus of Diepenbeek.