New Advances in Waterborne Fluoropolymer Technology – A Water-based Dispersion for Industrial Coatings Formulations

By Naoko Sumi, Isao Kimura, Masakazu Ataku, Takashige Maekawa, Robert Parker

Fluoropolymers are distinguished particularly by their high thermal, chemi­cal, and weather resistance; excellent surface properties ( especially oil and wa­ter repellency); and optical properties (low refractive index). Accordingly, fluo­ropolymers are indispensable materials in a wide variety of industries.

Since fluoropolymers came on the market in the 1930s, they have been applied as coating materials in order to achieve those characteristics mentioned on the surfaces of various substrates. Typical ex­amples include coatings made from aqueous disper­sions polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), tetrafluoroethyl­ene/hexafluoroethylene copolymers (FEP), and tetrafluoroethylene/perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copoly­mers (PFA) for non-stick and anti-corrosion applica­tions. However, those fluoropolymers are not necessarily ­suitable for use as coating materials due to their poor solubility in conventional organic solvents, the requirement of baking tempera­tures greater than 200 ° C and weak adhe­sion to substrates.