Recent Developments and Trends in Sustainable and Functional Wood Coatings

Purpose of ReviewIn the last decade, a transformation has occurred in the coating industry. While, in the past, the industry was primarily focused on reducing volatile organic compounds (VOC) and formaldehyde emissions, it is now circularity driving this industry. In this paper, we present several advances that have been made, as well as key trends in the wood coatings industry.Recent FindingsReplacing petroleum-based chemicals in coating formulations is at the heart of current research. In recent years, various biosourced molecules from animal and plant sources have been the subject of many studies aiming to incorporate them in coatings. Despite all the progress made in the last few years, coating producers are still facing many challenges regarding the availability and quality of biobased raw materials and balancing performance versus cost.While most of the sustainable coating solutions discussed in this review focus on well-known and widely accepted coating chemistries and technologies (water-based and photopolymerizable polyurethanes (PUs), acrylics, and epoxies), we also present new technologies that are expected to gain significant importance in the next few years such as layer-by-layer (LBL), polyelectrolyte complexes, and isocyanate-free PU.