Green Coating for Deformable Surfaces

ABSTRACT

The Seeker is looking for a partner with knowledge and practical capabilities of applying green coatings on deformable surfaces.

This is an electronic Request-for-Partners (eRFP) Challenge; the Solver will only need to submit a written proposal to be evaluated by the Seeker with the goal of establishing a collaborative partnership.

OVERVIEW

Applying environmentally friendly green coatings to non-deformable surfaces rapidly becomes one of the trends for sustainable economy. However, the further advancement of this promising technology requires the application of green coating on multiple deformable surfaces, too.

With this in mind, the Seeker for this Challenge is looking for a partner with knowledge and practical capabilities of applying green coatings on deformable surfaces. By posting this Challenge, the Seeker wants to capture the latest generation of research technologies with strong commercial potential (or already commercialized) that will be capable of creating green coating on deformable materials.

The proposed technologies should be able to create nanometric to micrometric (<5 microns) coatings that would have no impact on the deformability of a material in its original shape.

The Seeker is mostly concerned about bending and twisting of the material and, to a lesser extent, about its extension. The coatings are expected to have extremely high affinity for a variety of surfaces:

• Hydrophobic surfaces (i.e., those with lipid monolayers), such as plastics.
• Hydrophilic surfaces (i.e., those with anionic functional group monolayers), such as paper.
• Protein surfaces, such as meat and wool.
• Non-flat surfaces, with roughness of up to 500 nm.

Other desirable properties of the coating include:

• Stability to rubbing and washing with oil, water, and detergents (e.g., cleaning a coated plate with a brush and dish detergent)
• Being non-tacky/non sticky with the low surface friction and nice feel.
• For hydrophobic surfaces, offering water repellency would be highly valuable.

The Seeker realizes that the proposed coating can be multi-component and they’re especially interested in identifying novel coating components that have not yet been adapted to existing coating technologies.
 

This is an electronic Request-for-Partners (eRFP) Challenge. The Solver will write a preliminary proposal (about 2-4 pages, including supporting non-confidential information and contact details) to be evaluated by the Seeker with a goal of establishing a collaborative partnership. Upon completion of the evaluation, the Seeker may contact selected Solvers directly to work out terms for a collaboration contract. The monetary value of the contract will vary depending on the amount of work to be delivered and the agreed upon time frame.

NOTE: Only proposals from Solvers who have the ability to work as the collaboration partner will be considered.

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on April 3, 2023.

Late submissions will not be considered.

What is the Wazoku Crowd?

Imagine a world where any problem you have can be looked at by millions of expert, motivated eyes. The Wazoku Crowd makes this possible. With twenty years of experience in crowdsourcing, the Wazoku Crowd is the gold standard for open talent and external innovation solutions. Commercial, governmental and humanitarian organizations engage with the Wazoku Crowd to solve problems that can impact humankind in areas ranging from the environment to medical advancements.

What is an eRFP Challenge?

A Wazoku Crowd eRFP Challenge allows Seekers to submit Requests for Proposals for a partner or supplier to provide materials or expertise to solve a business challenge by leveraging the Wazoku Crowd Solver network. This global community includes organizations and individuals, such as contract research organizations, scientists, university researchers, and technology companies.

After a Solver submits an eRFP response, the Seeker evaluates the responses to determine which Solver(s) to contact for further business discussions. With eRFPs, the Solver must not provide any confidential information in the eRFP response. If your eRFP response is selected, you negotiate the terms of the contract (including scope of work, tasks and duration) directly with the Seeker.

This Challenge type does not require Intellectual Property (IP) transfer. However, sometimes Seekers request that certain IP arrangements be made should a partnership be formed.