Selecting the Best Diaphragm for Paints and Coatings
While the first “paints” were constructed from natural substances like charcoal, mud and berry juice, today’s paints and coatings are made of a wide variety of highly stylized components using high-tech manufacturing processes. It has been in the last 35 to 40 years that most of the major enhancements in paint and coating manufacturing have evolved. Driven by these technological advances, the market has evolved into one of the most diverse and important in the world, with paint and coatings now vital components in applications as varied as traffic marking, house coatings, automobile exteriors and aluminum cans.
Specifically, the major changes that have occurred in the industry have been paced by the introduction of new coating technologies, which have replaced traditional low-solid, solvent-based formulations. Today, synthetic pigments and stabilizers are used to mass-produce uniform batches of paint. Alkyd resins have become a major component within the production process. Sand mills and high-speed dispersion mixers are used to rapidly grind dispersible pigments. The growing demand for radiation-curable coatings, known as radcure, as well as powder coatings and nanotechnology increase demand for more environmentally safe and fast-drying end products.