Cure-on-Demand, Ultra-High-Solid Nonskid Coatings

This technology includes photocuring based on acrylate and epoxy-based resins. Photocuring can be used to cure coatings rapidly, but the inner filter effect limits the through-cure of thick samples. In addition to thickness, the presence of fillers or pigments impedes light penetration, thereby reducing the cure of the material. Such challenges can make photocuring a different process in the curing of nonskid coatings, which are often thick and highly filled. A post-thermal cure is a potential way to overcome this issue, but it requires additional time and resources. Redox-initiated polymerization can be used to rapidly prepare materials such as coatings and composites without the drawback of the inner filter effect. However, the pot life is limited, and two- part mixing is required. Frontal polymerization (FP) is a potential method that can be used to rapidly cure a highly filled or thick coating without the drawbacks of photocuring and redox polymerization. Frontal polymerization was first discovered by Chechilo and Enikolopyan in the 1970s12–15 and then was independently discovered by Pojman in the early 1990s.16–22 Since its discovery, FP research has been extended to other areas such as deep eutectic solvents, 23–26 hydro- gels, 27 gradient materials, 28 cationic-initiated polymerization, 29–33 and ring-opening metathesis polymerization.