Powder coatings technology: new developments at the turn of the century

The growth of the powder coating business is affected by the toxicological effects of the raw materials used in the coating formulation and the saturation of the present market for powder coatings, being limited to general metal applications only. This has a strong influence on the long-term research programmes at both raw materials suppliers and powder paint producers. in the last decade of the 20th century, we witness appearance of several new types of toxicologically-safe powder coating systems on the commercial scale. At the same time, there is strong evidence of efforts to penetrate new market fields where powder coatings are not typically used. This includes the markets for automotive clear top coatings, can and coil coatings, coatings for industrial wood, plastics and paper. The new developments in the chemistry of powder coatings are followed by changes and improvements in the production technology for powder coatings as well as developments of new application techniques. This paper summarises the research work on chemistry, production and application technology of powder coatings and tries to extrapolate the tendencies in the years to come in order to predict the achievements and the impacts on the paint industry. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.