With increasing environmental awareness and air pollution standards becoming more stringent, the demand for environmentally friendly coatings is also increasing. Powder coating is well established as a high-performance, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional solventborne paints. These attributes, together with the unique aesthetic options that are available with powder, have made it the preferred coating technology for many products.
Powder coatings are mainly used for the coating of metals, such as household appliances, aluminum extrusions, and automobile and bicycle parts due to the high temperatures (typically 160-170 °C) that are required to harden the coating. For years, there have been significant efforts towards reducing the curing temperature of powder coatings. This has been the driving force to further reducing the required energy of an already ecological, low-footprint process. This creates an increased demand for low-temperature-curing powder coatings without adverse effect on the curing times, which are also important for lowering manufacturing costs.