subject: Development Of Soft Coatings With Waterborne Polyurethane Dispersions [print this page] Waterborne polyurethane coatings are gaining popularity in the market at a much rapid pace. They are especially used for the trade coating of wood and parquet floors. Their main benefit is that they produce very small amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOC), and almost odorless and have since attained a property level nearly identical to that of their solvent counterparts. However, there are almost no polyurethane dispersions available that do not contain N-methyl pyrrolidione (NMP).
The responsible group of European Union has decided that formulation containing more than five percent of NMP must be classified as toxic in the future. It is not possible to formulate NMP-free wood coatings having qualities that equal or overcome those of traditional systems. This is because of the induction of waterborne polyurethane binders of current generation.
It is important to note that new polyurethane dispersions need less co solvent to form good coatings than the products containing NMP. The waterborne polyurethane coatings are characterized by amazing resistance to abrasion and high mechanical resistance. Nowadays, the developers created the new polyurethane dispersions by replacing the old prepolymer mixing process, in which NMP acts as a solvent, with the acetone process.
This process requires adjusting the recipes for the dispersions to responsible for the lower solvent power of the acetone, which is distilled off following creation of the prepolymer to get a solvent-free product.
Waterborne polyurethane systems formulated with it offers extraordinary chemical resistance and high gloss. The final product can be used alone or in combination with new NMP-free polyurethane dispersions as the A component in two-component systems. The technical resistance and appearance of the coating can be adjusted as required by changing the mixing ratio of these components.
Waterborne aliphatic polyurethane/acrylic hybrid dispersions are designed for the use in the formulation of high-performance coatings, adhesives and inks. These hybrid polyurethane dispersions combine the excellent physical resistance properties of polyurethanes with the binding and wetting properties of acrylic emulsions.
Incorez is a specialist manufacturer of oxazolidines, waterborne epoxy curing agents, reactive diluents, and waterborne polyurethane dispersions. The other products are moisture scavenger, latest curing agent, and reactive diluents.
