Why coat objects with paint? First of all, it's an effective form of protection. Just think of solar radiation, water (in the form of rain, snow, frost, fog, humidity, and dew) and atmospheric gases (carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide): all of these attack and destroy materials, at greater or lesser speeds. Paints do not only defend, they also increase the safety and performance of products: intumescent paints slow down combustion processes; decontaminating paints allow life to exist inside nuclear power stations; anti-vegetation paints keep shipping a competitive means of transport, etc.

The goal of Nanover is to improve the hardness, resistance to abrasion and cleanability of paints, using new polymeric-matrix nano-composite materials that keep their aesthetic qualities unaltered and facilitate their application. This will allow paint manufacturers to define new types of high-quality product, increase competitiveness in enterprise and create new market opportunities.