UV-Curable Powder Coatings for Heat-Sensitive Substrates

By Ryan Schwarb, Michael Knoblauch, Jim Cox

Market opportunities for UV-cured powder coatings continue to expand as external drivers focus consumers of OEM coatings to seek new materials and application technologies. Industrial material consumers and processors make material and technological investment and buying decisions based upon a complex set of internal and external criteria. These criteria are a mix of regulatory mandates, perceived end user demands, and economics. All consumers are looking for products and processes that meet environmental regulations, require lower energy consumption, generate lower total applied costs, and produce a higher return on assets.¹ Worldwide consumption of radiation-cured finishing products is growing at a faster rate than the total coatings market.

By 2012, radiation-cured products as a percentage of the total coatings market will be 2.2%.2 UV-cured powder coating has many inherent advantages, including ease of material handling, durability, one-coat processing, and breadth of palette. Additionally, there are significant environmental, economic, and quality advantages when compared to traditional solventborne and water-borne coating technologies.

The purpose of this article is to describe and quantify these advantages and benefits and demonstrate the value of UV-cured powder coatings.