A Challenge: Aluminum Pigments in Aqueous Coatings

By David P. Chapman

The coatings industry has been in an evolutionary process of formulating to reduce the levels of volatile organic compounds in coatings. The process has been driven by regulatory considerations. The aluminum pigment manufacturer has been in lock step with this process to develop user-friendly treated aluminum pigments for aqueous coatings.

The focus of this paper is to present a historical overview of the progress, to date, and review two new surface treatment technologies recently introduced to the industry. These new chemistries give the coatings formulator more options in the process of creating aqueous aluminized coatings.

Formulating techniques are presented utilizing treated aluminum pigment technologies, along with formulations, where appropriate, representing commercially available resin systems. These technologies can be and are used in general industrial coatings, industrial maintenance formulations, high performance maintenance systems, roof coatings, as well as automotive OEM and refinish coatings.