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POWDER COATINGS: A TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Citation:
Turner, S. L., J. N. Baskir, AND C M. Nunez*. POWDER COATINGS: A TECHNOLOGY REVIEW. POLLUTION PREVENTION REVIEW. John Wiley & Sons Incorporated, New York, NY, Spring:7-21, (1999).
Impact/Purpose:
Published Journal Article
Description:
In 1995, surface coatings accounted for nearly 2.55 million Mg of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions nationally, which is more than 12% of VOC emissions from all sources. In recent years, powder coatings have been steadily gaining popularity as an alternative to solvent-borne coatings, because powder coatings do not produce significant emissions of VOCs or hazardous air pollutants. This paper reviews powder coatings and discusses their current markets, application equipment, environmental and health issues, chemistries, and areas of use. While powder coatings continue to gain popularity, advances are needed in several areas to make them more widely applicable. Key issues driving current developments in powder coatings are thinner films, improved appearance characteristics, lower temperature curing, and more rapid curing. Areas for further research include development of manufacturing processes that can produce finer powders with fewer "superfine" particles (<10 micrometers in diameter), application equipment that can deliver powder coatings at a constant rate, powder chemistries that offer improved flow and leveling characteristics during cure, and ultraviolet powder coating cure for temperature-sensitive substrates.
