Non-Isocyanate Coatings with Fast Return to Service and Excellent Appearance for Industrial Flooring Application

By Ulises Brauer, Phillip Tome, Gautam Haldankar

A new application of Michael Addition (MA) chemistry was recently explored and developed for use in industrial flooring. Historically, MA was not applied in protective coatings due to the extremely fast reactivity which resulted in poor appearance and unacceptably short pot life. Now, the development of a blocked catalyst and incorporation of kinetic additives have allowed formulators to tame and control the speed of the MA reaction.

This novel technology exhibits excellent chemical properties compared to traditional systems, providing the best balance between working time, appearance, and fast return to service. This MA technology is comprised of a wide variety of donor and acceptor resins, giving the formulator the ability to tailor coatings to meet specific performance goals.

Polyaspartic (PA) technology is used when fast cure and hardness development is required in flooring systems. However, this contractor-applied system requires highly skilled labor due to its very short pot life and sensitivity to adverse application conditions such as high environmental moisture and temperature.