Rod Coaters  are simple instrument used to coat several substrates in a scalable way for roll-to-roll production in industry. The equipment consists in a set of stainless-steel rods with a tight spiral of stainless steel wire, an aluminium plate in which the chosen substrate is fixed, and an automatic system for the rod moving. Coating thickness is determined by the cross-sectional area of the grooves between the wire coils of the rod. Available bars produce a coating thickness from 4 to 120µm. The rod speed can be set between 2 and 15m/min. Finally, plate temperature can set up to 150°C by a digital temperature controller.

Multifunctional and smart polymeric coating formulations made of polymers, nanoparticles (such as clay, halloysite, silica, graphene and its derivatives and 2D related materials) and suitable additives, are deposited on different substrates (ie paper, cardboard, polymeric and metal substrates) accordingly to their viscosity by means of a rod bar able to deposit different composite coating thickness.