Advanced Light Stabilizers for the Next Century’s Needs

By Jonathan Rogers, Brett Moyer, Greg Kalscheur, Norbert Emig

Coatings manufacturers are facing many challenges in the industry today and are expected to fill these requirements to be successful. In order to meet these needs, producers are looking to new technology from material suppli­ers to help differentiate their systems. With the ever changing economic cli­mate and increased globalization, the need to implement new performance properties or effects at a faster pace also places significant pressure on manufacturers as well as their suppliers.

Today, the development of paints and coatings focuses mostly on three main areas, including the increase in overall performance, meeting environ­mental regulations, and maintaining low costs for end users. Increased func­tionality, longer durability, and use of thinner films are some main areas where performance improvements are occurring . It is anticipated that governments will continue to place pressure on the coatings industry to create products with less impact on the surrounding environment.

Technology will help to support this change and eliminate older, less environmentally sustainable systems. Reducing costs with technology usually relates to the elimination of specific manufacturing steps in the preparation or application of paints. However, some approaches allow for the overall reduction in the amount of dry films required in a system, therefore also lowering costs.