Smart coatings for critical industries: the vision of Arezoo Assarian
During the AMPP and LatinCORR event in Panama, the Inspenet team had the opportunity to meet with the Dr. Arezoo Assarian CEO and innovator at the helm of Eninco Engineering. With a track record forged since the age of 18 in sectors such as shipbuilding, oil and gas, Assarian has built an industrial proposition based on advanced smart coatings that offer active responses to critical conditions.
From its sites in the Netherlands and Croatia, the company is committed to transforming the way industries protect their infrastructures. The interview focused on how these systems are ushering in a new era in the protection of high-value assets.
What are smart coatings?
Smart coatings are materials designed to actively react to external factors and stimuli such as moisture, shocks, corrosion or contaminants. Unlike traditional coatings that only act as a passive barrier, smart coatings can "sense, respond and adapt" to changes in their environment to better protect the surface to which they are applied.
These coatings integrate microcapsules or nanoparticles in their structure containing active ingredients (such as corrosion inhibitors, self-healing agents, sensors or repellents) that are automatically released when an external aggression occurs. In addition, there are different types that offer various functionalities:
- Self-healing: They repair small cracks or scratches by themselves.
- Self-cleaning: Repel water, dust or dirt.
- Antifouling: Prevents organisms from adhering to surfaces (very useful in marine environments).
- Active anticorrosion: They release inhibitors only when corrosive agents are present.
- Antistatic or antiradar: Modify electromagnetic response for defense applications.
This response capacity makes it possible to maintain protected structures without immediate intervention, extending their useful life and optimizing resources.
Industrial innovation from Eninco Engineering
Although smart coating's technology originates in the global scientific arena, Eninco Engineering's contribution is focused on its commercial development and effective industrial application. The company, founded by Assarian in 2018 in the Netherlands and extended to Croatia in 2023, produces these smart coatings for sectors such as marine, defense, aerospace and oil and gas.
Eninco's proprietary formulations are based on the incorporation of active ingredients encapsulated in microscopic structures, which are spontaneously activated when the surface suffers damage or critical exposure, releasing materials that heal, seal or protect the affected area.
According to the engineer, the manufacturing process is agile and scalable:
We have two combined production methods, which we integrate. The manufacturing time for this coating is a maximum of 4 hours.
Dr. Arezoo Assarian.
Technical and economic advantages
One of the most common barriers to adopting new technologies is cost, however, Assarian claims that smart coatings can be more economical than conventional systems, especially when considering the reduction of processes and materials.
These smart coatings can be applied directly to the surface without the need for sandblasting or other cleaning methods. It is only important that the surface is clean, free of grease, dirt, dust and moisture. You can apply it directly in a very thin layer, with the same effect as applying 4-6 layers of coating, e.g. in marine systems.
Dr. Arezoo Assarian.
Leadership and training with impact
On the other hand, Arezoo Assarian also represents a benchmark for female leadership in a traditionally male-dominated technical industry. In her home country of Croatia, she has promoted the participation of women in fields such as engineering, materials production and shipbuilding.
Her commitment also includes strengthening the link between industry and academia, from her role as a visiting professor at the Polytechnic University of Karlovac (birthplace of Nikola Tesla), promoting a research center in coatings and corrosion. There, students have the opportunity to collaborate on real projects and gain practical experience that allows them to integrate more easily into the industrial environment.
A proposal that grows from the region
Smart coatings are no longer a technology of the future, thanks to developments such as those led by Arezoo Assarian, today they are integrated into real solutions for sectors that demand maximum protection and efficiency.
From its dual headquarters in the Netherlands and Croatia, Eninco Engineering is charting a path that combines science, industry and sustainability. A proposal built from experience and with the vision of transforming passive protection into intelligent action.
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Source: Inspenet.
