The Waterborne Symposium 2025

Abstract

"Every manufacturer is hearing about the “Industrial Internet of Things” (IIoT) or Industry 4.0 and, of course, Artificial Intelligence (AI) – and their promise to revolutionize how we make products.  So, if you ask any expert, “What parameters should I actually be controlling?” you’ll often get a quick “All of them!” answer.  But that’s a cop-out.  It’s easy, but not practical.
The fact is, despite the proliferation of sensing technologies that have endowed us with the ability to monitor virtually every aspect of our environment and process, implementing these comes with a cost. It’s not just about the sensors themselves. It’s also about the supporting network. And the processing. And the effort and energy costs. Unfortunately, these often get ignored during the upfront planning stages, and this can result in some significant surprises on the back end of the project.
Moreover, the hype and promise of AI has a powerful allure, which can only be realized if truly understood and carefully implemented – and when it comes to AI, data is king.
In short, it is essential to balance the cost and effort with the return. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the application of paints and coatings, which often involve the most expensive and energy intensive processes in the manufacturing plant.
In this presentation we will:
    define and contrast IIoT and Industry 4.0 and address their ramifications to modern manufacturers.
    discuss the potential for AI implementation in manufacturing and the requirements to make it successful.
    identify the properties that are essential to monitor at each point in the coating process.
    identify the properties that are essential to control at each point in the coating process.
 describe the best practice to implementing data collection and control to leverage the future of AI."

Abstract

Sustainable products are designed to minimize negative impacts on the environment while meeting the needs of consumers. By choosing sustainable products, reduction of waste, conservation of resources, and improved performance may be achieved while protecting the planet for future generations. It is important to consider not only the use of sustainable materials but also the overall environmental impact of the product, including its production, application, and end-of-life disposal. Using examples from sustainable resin development, many of the considerations for defining sustainability and in developing eco-friendly waterborne coatings such as copolymer handprint vs. footprint, biobased vs. mass balance, and cost effectiveness vs. improved performance will be presented and discussed.

Co-Authors:  Kaden Stevens, Jeff Aguinaga, Derek Patton, Brent Sumerlin, and Tristan Clemons

Abstract

Carbon fiber has been established as one of the most important structural materials of the 21st century because of its remarkably high strength to weight ratio. As such, carbon fiber has found a wide range of applications in sporting goods, aerospace, construction, and medical device industries. Currently, approximately 90% of carbon fibers are derived from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursors due to the superior tensile strength that can be achieved when processed effectively. Traditional PAN synthesis is achieved by employing free radical polymerization in solution or by emulsion, resulting in broad molecular weight distributions. Additionally, PAN is insoluble in its own monomer and requires toxic organic solvents such as dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide, or ethylene carbonate for both solution polymerization and wet spinning into white fibers. Controlled radical polymerization techniques have demonstrated that narrow molecular weight distributions can provide favorable rheological profiles for fiber spinning but suffer from low monomer conversions and struggle to achieve molecular weights necessary for producing high quality carbon fibers. In this study, we present an aqueous photoiniferter (aqPI) polymerization of acrylonitrile, achieving high molecular weights of PAN at high monomer conversions, with significantly faster kinetics, and greater control of polymer dispersity when compared to traditional approaches reported. Polymerization kinetics were determined by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and polymer molecular weight and dispersity (PDI) determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Residual zinc content was quantified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).