and coatings market “has responded extremely well to the global call to action to reduce VOCs and the use of harmful mercury
and tin additives.
“We recognized this trend over decades and responded with
a line of resin modifiers (K-FLEX) and mercury replacement
catalysts (K-KAT), which have both experienced healthy growth
in recent years,” he said.
King added, “In 2014 our coil and OEM customers were
formulating for cure temperatures down to 170ºC and 110ºC
respectively. We responded and developed a special line of cata-
lysts to meet this demanding temperature requirement and have
been experiencing good success. Our new NACURE XC-311 is
our champion product for these applications.”
Other products that King Industries has launched include:
NACURE XC- 31, a catalyst for low temperature cure; K-FLEX
XM-337, a resin modified for improving durability of thin films;
K-KAT 651, a hydrolytically stable tin free bismuth catalyst;
NACORR 1389MS, designed for primerless direct-to-metal
(DTM) corrosion protection; K-STAY 555, for improved anti-
sag; and DISPARLON AQH-800, an easy-to-use thixotrope for
waterborne applications.
Giaudrone of Eastman Chemical Company also said that
the paint industry has been “preoccupied over recent years with
achieving performance at reduced VOC and emission levels.
“Now some attention seems to be focusing towards functional paint where the coating offers functionality beyond the
basics. Examples of functional coatings are anti-microbial, energy absorbing, sound absorbing products,” he said.
Giaudrone added that, in terms of new product launches,
“Additives tend to have very long product life cycles.”
He added, “At Eastman Chemical Company we have a very
strong pipeline of projects that when launched will bring ben-
efit to the market. Much of our new technologies are focused
on addressing challenges associated with major market trends,
such as health and wellness, energy efficiency and environmen-
tal impact.
“An example of this was the launch of our Solus family of
rheology additives which offer customers improved productiv-
ity and the ability to achieve lower VOC and emissions while
delivering performance gains in the area of appearance across
