Polytechnique Montréal, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and seven industry partners inaugurated today the NSERC Multisectorial Industrial Research Chair in Coatings and Surface Engineering (MIC-CSE).

As the country's second-largest industrial research chair awarded by the NSERC, all fields combined, the MIC-CSE will benefit from a budget of $5.35 million over five years from NSERC ($2.6 million), and from seven partners (a total of $2.75 million): Essilor, Hydro-Québec, Guardian Industries Corp., Pratt & Whitney Canada, Velan, JDS Uniphase and the Canadian Space Agency.

“Molecular millefeuilles” for clean industrial processes
Research will focus on developing a new generation of non-polluting manufacturing technologies for nanostructured coating materials. These processes make it possible to add successive layers of nanometre-thick films and thicker coating architectures using various materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, nanoparticles or others) on to flat surfaces as well as on three-dimensional objects. Far from being limited to corrosion and wear protection, these “molecular millefeuilles” aim to confer a wide range of functional characteristics to the surfaces: anti-glare, anti-erosion, anti-fog, but also self-controlled (or “smart”) optical reflectivity or emissivity, luminescence, sterility and more.

“The possible functionalities are limited only by our imagination!” said Ludvik Martinu, MIC-CSE Chairholder and Professor in the Department of Engineering Physics at Polytechnique Montréal. “The technologies we are developing will help us avoid relying on processes that are harmful to the environment, such as those using solvents. This is in response to a sustainable development issue that's becoming crucial for businesses. It will also help explore new avenues for energy saving and for new high-value-added products.”

A place for idea exchange, synergy and training
The scope of collaborations within the MIC-CSE Chair reflects the immense variety of industry fields in which multi-layer coating technologies can be applied. The research carried out at Polytechnique will improve the sustainability and effectiveness of materials in sectors as varied as aerospace, energy and manufacturing, as well as optics, photonics and space exploration.

“The MIC-CSE Chair aims to be above all a place to stimulate and exchange ideas, where partners working in very different areas but sharing common concerns can benefit from top-notch expertise,” said Professor Martinu. “This openness strengthens the potential for collaboration and fosters the creation of new areas to explore.”

For his part, Polytechnique's Chief Executive Officer Christophe Guy stated: “This synergy between collaborators from various realms creates a particularly stimulating environment for the new generation that is being educated here.”

Launched more than 25 years ago, research in the field of advanced materials and nanotechnologies at Polytechnique brings together some 20 researchers today, including about half a dozen in the specific field of surface engineering. Mr. Guy continued: “Thanks to top-tier equipment and the best specialists in the field, this research area is attracting excellent recruits to Polytechnique. Over the next few years, the Chair intends to train more than 15 master's and doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows, a valuable cohort for Canadian industry.”

From left to right : Martin Bracamonte, Guardian, Réjean Girard, Hydro-Québec, Gil Perez, Velan, Christophe Guy, Polytechnique Montréal, Janet Walden, NSERC, Darius Nikanpour, Canadian Space Agency, Ludvik Martinu, Polytechnique Montréal, Jean-Luc Schuppiser, Essilor, Jolanta Sapieha, Polytechnique Montréal, Fréderic Lefebvre, Pratt & Whitney Canada, Robert Sargent, JDS Uniphase

Seven partners in as many fields of application
“Canada is home to one of the world's most significant research hubs in the field of surface engineering,” said Suzanne Fortier, President of NSERC. “Professor Martinu has already made many major contributions to this cutting-edge field, and as the holder of the industrial research chair, he will have an unprecedented opportunity to expand the impact of his work. Thanks to Professor Martinu's work, businesses active in a broad range of fields will be able to reduce costs while making the most of the latest advances in the field of thin-film coatings. The entire field will benefit from the progress made by Professor Martinu and his impressive team.”

“Essilor International launched its first generation of premium antireflective lenses, Crizal®, 20 years ago in Canada. The timing of this new collaboration is a good omen. After several generations of Crizal® lenses, with ever increasing performance, we think that, in order to push forward scientific and technical development, we need to collaborate with excellent academic institutes, such as the Functional Coating and Surface Engineering Laboratory directed by Professor Martinu at Polytechnique Montréal. It seemed a natural step for us to take part in this Chair, together with other groups which are all excellent in their fields. The synergies and the cross-fertilization between academic and industrial researchers will allow for significant progress and breakthroughs in the field of antireflective coatings and surface treatments.”

“Guardian is excited to be participating in the NSERC Multisectorial Industrial Research Chair. We see it as a unique opportunity to advance the understanding and technology of energy-saving performance glazings and other coated glass applications through collaboration amongst industries with shared, though non-competitive, interests. The world-leading team of researchers and research facilities at Polytechnique Montréal under the direction of Professors Ludvik Martinu and Jolanta Sapieha provide an ideal focal point for this collaborative effort. Areas of particular interest to Guardian include novel plasma-based processes and their effects on thin- film properties, understanding the role of interfaces on the film growth, new and novel passive and active materials, and strategies to obtain long-term durability. Development in these areas is a key part of Guardian's future success and will enable us to deliver the next generation of energy-saving and enhanced-functionality coated glass products to the Canadian and global markets.”

“Since 1993 JDS Uniphase and the Functional Coating and Surface Engineering Laboratory (FCSEL) at Polytechnique Montreal have worked together on the development and understanding of film growth processes such as PECVD, magnetron sputtering, and HIPIMS. The FCSEL laboratory includes deposition platforms and analytical instruments that are in many cases different and complementary to those at JDSU. This collaboration has enabled important research and commercial progress in our field. Looking forward, JDSU's interests in the Chair program include the development of plasma-based deposition processes and understanding the effects of these processes on film properties and performance.  JDSU looks forward with anticipation to working with Ludvik Martinu and Jolanta Saphieha and their team at FCSEL, as well as with the other industrial partners in the NSERC Multisectorial Industrial Research Chair.”

“Hydro-Québec is pleased to participate in this Polytechnique Industrial Research Chair, which boasts an impressive number of industry partners who share a common interest in the field of coatings and surface engineering. Hydro-Québec owns assets of 60 G$. They are aging and their replacement is costly. The aging process implies phenomena such as corrosion, wear, erosion or fracture that take place at surfaces or interfaces of equipment components. New materials, more specifically coatings, are center to the development of methods for protecting and repairing equipment. They allow to prolong the life and performance or to restore the functionality of damaged equipment”.

“Within this Chair, P&WC wishes to advance solutions with respect to technological challenges including erosion-resistant coatings for new applications, erosion mechanisms and predictive tools for the design of new protective coatings, hydrophobic and icephobic erosion-resistant protective coatings, and advanced coatings with new coating functions. These objectives are aligned with P&WC's commitment to ensuring that its products are designed, produced and operated while minimizing environmental impacts throughout their life cycle.”

“Velan has been working with the team led by Professors Martinu and Sapieha for over a decade, and we are pleased to join Polytechnique Montréal as part of this chair. The protection of valves by surface treatments to improve wear resistance is a strategic R&D focus for Velan. We are interested in optimizing hard-coating welding procedures applied to highly alloyed steels as well as in developing surface treatments applied by thermal spraying and vacuum-based techniques.”

“Space missions require components capable of operating in a narrow temperature range with low mass, power and volume and which can thrive in harsh launch and space environments. The improvement of existing coatings and thin films and the development of new ones are critical in addressing some of the technical complexities of spacecraft design. Moreover, the Canadian Space Agency is particularly interested in developing highly qualified personnel in this field of research.”

Professor Martinu's expertise