Powder Coatings Innovations

Powder coataings have traditionally been used for automotive and industrial applications. Recently powder has been making inroads in to newer markets such as architectural, wood and EV. Coatings World spoke with several leading powder coatings manufacturers concerning the latest technological innovations coming out of their R&D labs and being brought to market.

“Within Powder Coatings, we’re continuing to refine our traditional areas of performance and durability, corrosion and resistance,” said Jeff Jirak, managing director of AkzoNobel’s Powder Coatings business. “In addition, we’re focusing more and more on sustainability, which includes exploring areas such as thinner film thickness. Having a thinner film thickness means you can reduce your costs and cut powder consumption. Furthermore, reducing the amount of product consumed for each square meter of surface coated helps reduce your carbon footprint.

“Elsewhere, we’re working with our suppliers on new innovations in resin technology, such as developing resins with a more sustainable profile. All of this will help to advance our sustainability credentials and ensure that we continue to work on improving our overall carbon footprint.”

AkzoNobel is also doing a lot of work on electric vehicles, particularly on components such as battery systems and electric motors, as mentioned earlier (one-spray application technology).

“Regarding aesthetics, we’ve reached a point where we can put almost any type of look onto metal, such as a stone effect, or real-life wood effect,” Jirak said. “This is a very cost-effective solution for architects, as it can be applied as high as the building goes, way beyond the base floor level – which is usually fairly costly.

“In addition to our technology developments on the product side, we also focus on developing services that help customers to optimize the use of our products, which ultimately drives carbon footprint reduction. For example, we recently partnered with coatingAI to introduce Flightpath Pro, an AI-based software tool which optimizes application gun settings to ensure the best possible powder application.

“Our innovation never stops, but it all boils down to sustainability, aesthetics and developing different looks that allow for more options and creativity. This is particularly relevant for the architectural and, in some cases, the consumer goods markets, while the electric vehicle market is also proving to be a very fruitful area for inventive thinking.”

Sherwin-Williams’ R&D lab is constantly bringing new ideas and innovations to the table. “Our goal is to make our customers more profitable, so our products are developed with both today’s challenges and tomorrow’s continued success in mind,” said Jerimy Erickson, global director of product management, Sherwin-William General Industrial Coatings Division. “We’re currently focused on developing powder coating solutions for two of the largest needs we see in the market: improving durability and enhancing sustainability attributes.”

“Heavy Equipment and Transportation products face some of the toughest daily use,” added Erickson.  “Today’s powder coatings can extend the lives of those products significantly. However, we believe that the durability of these coatings can be greatly extended – possibly even doubled – with some innovative uses of today’s knowledge and technology.

“Similarly, brands and consumers are both paying more attention to the sustainability of manufacturing products and processes. At Sherwin-Williams, every one of our products is developed with sustainability in mind and many, if not all, work to contribute to the enhanced efficiency of our customers. To further this and offer even more sustainable attributes, we’re exploring how to lower cure temperatures even more than currently possible, helping customers achieve reduced energy consumption and saving them both time and money.

PPG’s Shelley Verdun,  business manager, powder said the company is “committed to innovating in powder and focused on developing benchmark technologies that will solve our customers’ most pressing problems while being ahead of regulatory needs.  We listen to our customers and the market who are sharing the importance of sustainability, whether it is lower cure technology, addressing materials of concern such as PFOAs, or addressing total life cycle management.  This is where we focus our efforts in research and development.”