Oxford team lends Hong Kong a hand in toughening injection mould coatings

Researchers in materials science and engineering at the university have developed the new anti-sticking coatings, which they believe could reduce mould tool downtime during production. They feature high corrosion resistance, low friction coefficient, high wear resistance, high temperature resistance, and anti-sticking  epoxy moulding compound.

The work started out with electronic packaging industry but the technology can be easily extended to other areas, said Dr Kwok Yan Li, who is on sabbatical to George Washington University in Virginia, US. Dr Li, who trained in mechanical engineering at Birmingham University in the UK, developed the coatings in Hong Kong with a team of eight researchers.

Isis, the arm of Oxford University that licenses patents for commercial exploitation, is hoping to find partners to develop the coatings, which modify existing coatings of CrN (chromium nitride) with Ni (nickel), to toughen them up. A Japanese firm is believed to be interested in the technology.