EXTON, PA – AGC Chemicals Americas, a global supplier of high-quality fluorochemicals and materials, has expanded its LUMIFLON^® resins testing lab in Exton, Pennsylvania. The company has added state-of-the-art equipment and services to help formulators develop innovative powder coatings for many markets, including building, industrial maintenance, aerospace and automotive.

For many years, the AGC resins laboratory has tested the weatherability of coating systems formulated with LUMIFLON fluoropolymer resins. Now the lab has the technology and services required to test fluoropolymer-based powder coating systems, which are growing in popularity due to their long life and environmental advantages. New services include cross-section coating morphology testing using SEM/DMX coupled with microtome. New equipment includes:

• MP24PC Integra extruder from Baker Perkins (a fully integrated process system),
• Ultra Centrifugal Mill Type ZM 200 from Retch (used for the reduction of soft to medium-hard and fibrous materials),
• Vibratory Sieve Shaker AS 200 from Retch (used for dry sieving),
• Encore^® LT Manual Powder Spray Systems (manual powder coating system), and
• A fourth QUV-A weathering tester from Q Lab (used to test weatherability of coatings).

“Powder coatings are an environmentally friendly technology that is rising in popularity for long-life coatings,” said Tatsuya Masuda, Managing Director at AGC Chemicals Americas. “Our LUMIFLON resins testing lab is now fully equipped to assist coating manufacturers in developing new formulations.”

The LUMIFLON resins testing lab also has all the equipment required to mix and grind pigments and apply traditional coatings to a variety of substrates to test physical properties such as impact resistance, tensile, gloss, viscosity, pencil hardness and color. Lab technicians can also conduct accelerated corrosion tests and outdoor testing for real-world weathering exposure.

AGC is offering tours of the new facility so that customers, prospects and members of the scientific and local community can see the laboratory and equipment operating in real time. For more information, contact Kristin Carlin at kristin.carlin@us.agc.com.