WESEL, Germany — The team behind the development of a new family of hydrophilic additives, with the flagship BYK-3560, has received the 2018 BYK Advance price.

Many unresolved issues with overcoatability in the coating industry were the drivers and motivation for developing the hydrophilic additive concept. The first development, BYK-3560, is a breakthrough product that helps BYK reach its goal to uncover its customers' challenges and provide them with unique solutions.

BYK-3560 increases the surface energy of cured coatings overall, especially the polarity resulting in an improvement in the adhesion of subsequent layers such as in automotive multilayer coatings, lamination foils, adhesives and printing inks. The next development, BYK-3565, incorporates additional beneficial effects to the hydrophilic properties. The challenge consisted not only in increasing the surface energy unilaterally but also in visibly improving the coating’s anti-crater properties. BYK-3565 received the Ringier 2016 Coatings Technology Innovation Award. The jury was equally impressed by the work of the international and interdisciplinary research teams behind BYK-3565.

BYK-3560 and BYK-3565 are both based on the macromer technology and are recommended for a wide range of waterborne, solventborne, UV-curable and high solid systems. They set a new standard with the use of hydrophilic additives for overcoatability improvement in multilayer coatings.