You know each issue of PCI that we finish I think is the best one – until the next month. I am always so pleased with the features, the new technology and all of the technological changes I see in the industry – particularly when you have been around a while you can look back and see significant change over time. I have the advantage of reading a great number of submitted papers and company literature each day, and it is always exciting.

You know each issue of PCI that we finish I think is the best one – until the next month. I am always so pleased with the features, the new technology and all of the technological changes I see in the industry – particularly when you have been around a while you can look back and see significant change over time. I have the advantage of reading a great number of submitted papers and company literature each day, and it is always exciting. Tremendous technology is used within a coating that the average person on the street has no idea about. There are significant formulation differences between an interior house paint and an aircraft coating that must withstand extreme temperature and flexibility/expansion changes in a short time frame. Or the auto paint that must have that showroom finish and be expected to always appear that way – or the marine paint that is exposed to salt water and hot sun but better not fade or peel. And those are but a very, very few examples. Each of the main components of the coating is important, and sometimes the smallest amounts – the additives – are the most important of all.

If we could print the entire PCI issue this month it would be almost 200 pages long. That is because of the Additives Handbook – which is dear to me, being one of the co-authors. Back when I first joined the coatings industry, there were limited resources for technical and instructional coatings information. Most of us coming into this industry needed basic education – we had good backgrounds in chemistry or other sciences but most were not trained in coatings. So we were hungry to learn – but available print information was lean. We learned on the job from experienced formulators and plant personnel in the companies. We had no internet to search, but we did have a few journals to read, and we had a basic monograph series on various aspects of coatings (called the Federation Series on Coatings Technology), which was printed by people of knowledge who were members of the FSCT. Most of these were published prior to the 1970s and a few in the early ‘70s.

We would have been happy to have a source like the current Additives Handbook, which is a compilation of the additives used in the industry, along with descriptions of each. This was simply not available back then. Several years ago, when we first put the Handbook together, it was easier to do than it is today, as additives fit nicely into defined categories. With the movement toward waterborne and other low-VOC technologies, however, the world of additives is rapidly changing. Many additives today are part of the polymer itself, and so many additives are multifunctional, making it difficult to categorize. The advent of nanotechnology has added another dimension to the world of additives.

Because of new technology and the importance of all of our features we chose to print just a few pages of the Additives Handbook definitions so that we would be able to provide you, our readers, with the latest in new technology via the features. The Handbook may be found in its entirety on our website, www.pcimag.com. Also, it is highly recommended you purchase the CD of the complete Additives Handbook by contacting Andrea Kropp directly at kroppa@pcimag.com.

As always we have updated the Handbook with the best available current information we have regarding the multitude of additives used in the coatings industry. This is an extensive compilation, and the CD is of great benefit to all formulators, manufacturers and applicators of coatings, in addition to resource centers such as libraries and educational facilities. Many ‘seniors’ in the industry have remarked how beneficial this tool would have been when they first joined the industry years ago – and I for one wholeheartedly agree.

Also, be sure to read the liquid glass coating technology article this month (page 24). The liquid glass attributes have resulted in the coating being regarded as one of the most important surface coating technologies to have emerged in recent years. And this is why I always get excited and it never gets old!!