Sally Ramsey's secret is an off-the-shelf $20 mini paint gun. Well, no: The secret is what's in the gun, a spray made up of nano-sized versions of commercially available chemical compounds. Exactly which chemicals they are, Ramsay declines to say. But when they're sprayed on paper, which then is run through a machine that zaps the surface with ultraviolet (UV) light, what you get isn't just waterproof paper. Anyone can do that. No, the real magic is waterproof paper that's durable, efficient to manufacture, and safe for the environment. The coating process doesn't corrode or pollute, and the paper itself can decompose in a landfill.
Industrial coatings-sprays, finishes, or plating designed to keep plastic from scratching or metal from rusting -have long been the domain of old-line companies that used time-consuming, corrosive, environmentally-unfriendly processes to make finishes stick. While more stringent environmental rules have driven the adoption of cleaner technologies, such as using water or heat to apply coatings, those can take an hour or longer to dry and often can't be used in fragile electronics.
Real-world solutions
Ramsey, 54, a chemist from a family of chemists, co-founded Ecology Coatings 17 years ago. The science spun out of her previous work for a small metal-finishing shop, which provided a defining experience: "It was a real-world place with people who needed to spray real coatings and make real products," she says. "It forced me to look at every part of the process."
Her most important insight: Most traditional coatings, like paints, are based in liquids, which dry via evaporation or with intense heat. That takes time, and the evaporation can send pollutants into the air. Ecology Coatings' products are actually liquid solids that don't evaporate, so curing takes a lot less time, and there are no emissions.
Vocabulary Focus
decompose (v) ---to decay, or to cause something to decay
domain (n) ---an area of interest, or an area over which a person has control
stringent (adj) ---having a very severe effect, or being extremely limiting
emission (n) ---an amount of gas, heat, light, etc. that is sent out
Specialized terms
nano- (prefix) ---纳米级的;极微小的extremely small
ultraviolet (adj) ---紫外线的having a wavelength beyond the violet end of the range of colors that can be seen by human beings
corrode (v) ---腐蚀to slowly become damaged by something such as rain or water