Background

Over the last 40 years, the coatings industry has been adopting new coating technologies. In the late 1970s, the coatings industry began developing low-solvent and solvent-less coatings that reduce the emission of VOCs for several reasons:

• Impending government regulations on air pollution control
• Rising costs of solvents
• An emphasis on energy conservation that spurred industry changes

Advancements in coating technologies include several new coatings, such as:

• Waterborne coatings contain fewer VOCs and offer durability, dry quickly, and emit less odor:
  • Thermosetting emulsion - Coating set by heat
  • Colloidal dispersion - Coating where one substance is dispersed as very fine particles in another substance called a dispersion medium
  • Water-soluble - Coating that dissolves in water
• High-solid coatings - Coating that maintains the same thickness from application through drying
• Two-component systems - Coating that mixes together two items to form a chemical reaction
• Powder coatings - Coating that uses polyester or epoxy powder, that is then heated to fuse into a protective layer
• Radiation-curable coatings - Coating where UV energy, visible light, or low-energy electrons (EB) are used to form a coating

Without coatings, product lives might be shortened drastically and many products would not even be marketable. Special purpose coatings are used for miscellaneous applications, some examples include:

• Traffic paints
• Vehicle refinishing
• High-performance coatings for industrial plants and equipment
• Protection of marine structures and vessels

Through the next five years, air pollution regulations will continue to be a driving force behind the adoption of new coating technologies.

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