Coatings World - April 2016

Resins Update

He continued, “We strive to communicate as quickly and openly about our capabilities to meet their demands. We strive to be realistic in our response and deliver on that response. Cost is always an issue, but the value of our customer relationship is a major factor guiding our actions in the market.”

Keeping it Green

Over the last several years, global environmental regulations have led to the need for increasingly lower VOCs. In order to meet the demand for these products, suppliers have introduced several new “green” technologies to the market.

Daikin America has developed a low-VOC, solventborne fluorourethane as well as a waterborne 2K fluorourethane with similar performance as the solventborne. According to Pierre Kuyl, business development manager, Surface Modification Technologies, the products offer a lower life cycle cost by reducing the frequency of re-coating, which will have a positive impact on the environment.

Julie Vaughn, vice president of business development and marketing at Emerald Performance Materials, said that Emerald “prioritizes the development of chemistries that lower environmental impact without sacrificing on performance or economy.” This includes products that lower VOCs, utilize innovative renewable starting materials, or replace materials linked with toxicity, mutagenicity, or carcinogenicity.

“In certain formulations, low-viscosity, 100% solids ep-
oxy resins are being used in place of higher-molecular-weight
materials, which can lower VOC’s significantly,” she said.
“Formulators will often use liquid epoxy resins to this end in
high-solids primers, but this extends dry time. Epoxy resins such
as EPALLOY 7200 can lower VOC’s by about one-third while
also achieving accelerated cure speeds for better economy, plus
high-value properties such as solvent resistance and viscosity.”
Vaughn added that certain product offerings are also being used
as replacements for particular materials of concern. For example,
ERISYS GA-240, a tetra-functional epoxy reactive modifier, can
serve as a drop-in crosslinker replacement for polyfunctional aziri-
dine (PFAZ) in coatings and adhesives. PFAZ has been linked with
mutagenicity, and ERISYS GA-240 is a safer, non-mutagenic alter-
native. Since it has a longer pot life than PFAZ, manufacturers can
also avoid re-inoculation for better economy.

“Emerald also provides products based on naturally-derived
feedstocks, such as ERISYS GE- 60, a multifunctional aliphatic
epoxy resin based on sorbitol,” she said. “ERISYS GE- 60 is a
reactive crosslinker that optimizes MEK rubs and corrosion/
impact resistance in 2K enamel formulations with carboxyl-
functional acrylic polymers, creating a durable acrylic/epoxy
coating. Use of bio-based feedstocks is associated with reduced
carbon footprint and water usage cradle-to-grave, and Emerald
continues to find new ways to source these ingredients when
they offer value to the customer and can maintain or even im-
prove product performance.”
BASF’s Hall said that BASF has “the most comprehensive
resin, additive and performance additive portfolio for coat-
ing manufacturers.”
He added, “Our innovation comprises a full pipeline of new
products and technologies as well as exploiting the synergies
of our product portfolio to provide a system that delivers the
desired performance and conforms to the environmental regula-
tions. We understand that our customers desire the freedom to
sell their products in all geographic regions without the need for
region specific formulations to meet environmental regulations.
We are developing a new crosslinking technology that can dis-
place amino resins, epoxies and isocyanates.”
Reichhold’s Scott Cooley, coatings technology director,
said that Reichhold continues to provide waterborne solu-
tions to meet low VOC challenges through self-crosslinking
BECKOSOL AQ alkyd latex, UROTUF urethane and EPOTUF
epoxy ester technologies.

“Each of these technologies are biobased and supplied at a low VOC. These biobased polymers have the benefit of being applied at a lower molecular weight that increases through oxidative crosslinking, thus allowing performance advantages over alternate petroleum based polymers. Such advantages include good flow and leveling, penetration, high gloss, hardness, adhesion and durability,” Cooley said.

Arkema Coating Resins, according to Hiel, has developed a full array of products that display the EnVia trade name. EnVia products have passed the company’s rigorous certification program to ensure they are suitable for use in formulations for sustainable paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants and construction products. All products that are certified as part of Arkema’s EnVia program meet key requirements, including: having no added alkyl phenol ethoxylate (APEO) surfactants; no added formaldehyde or formaldehyde donors; a total latex VOC < 5 g/L; below regulatory reporting limits for carcinogens, reproductive toxins and ozone depleting compounds; low residual monomer levels (total monomer < 500 ppm); minimizes use of hazardous substances; Green Seal hazardous components < 0.01 percent by per component; California Prop 65 substances are minimized and documented with data available upon request; Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPS) < 0.1 percent; and no known added phthal-ates, triphenyl or tributyl tins, 1,2 – dichlorobenzene.

According to Venturini, one of the latest “green” technologies launched by Sun Chemical is a series of products under the WATERSOL line. A group of self-emulsifying acrylic resins developed by DIC for automotive interiors, WATERSOL water-based resins deliver performance properties similar to solvent-based resins and demonstrate excellent corrosion resistance, high hardness, pigment dispersability and low-temperature film formation properties.

“We also recently launched WATERSOL WQS-364, a UV-curable water-based polymer for water-reducible coatings on plastics which contains a hydrophobic multi-functional methacrylate and urethane acrylate core surrounded by a hydrophilic group. This unique technology brings both excellent package stability and a level of chemical and solvent resistance to the cured films not seen with other UV-curable systems,” he said.