A novel line of air-drying resins has recently been introduced that will aid formulators of solventborne coatings meet increasingly restrictive VOC regulations. Known as oxidizable phenolic-based urethanes, or OPUs, these products can be used to modify and improve the properties obtained from conventional solventborne systems, including reduced dry time, enhanced toughness, mar resistance, high gloss and improved chemical resistance.
This article reviews the chemistry of traditional oxidizable vehicles, phenolic resins and urethanes in order to understand how this new resin technology transforms all three to produce improved results in the application and performance of VOC-compliant coatings.