Can Waterborne Epoxies Answer the Market's Challenge?
This article will focus on four concerns that must be satisfied to answer the key questions above with a “yes.”
Epoxy resin technology goes back to the early 1940s when Dr. Greenlee synthesized the first glycidated bisphenol A derivatives.5 These early epoxy resins gave significantly better performance than alkyds in industrial primers. Shell Chemical Co. took an immediate interest in this new chemistry because it was based on several of its base feedstocks — propylene leading to epichlorohydrin; and cumene leading to phenol, acetone and, ultimately, to bisphenol A. Shell, the original U.S. licensee of epoxy technology, concentrated on developing new applications for this chemistry,6 as well as developing commercial-scale manufacturing facilities to supply these new epoxy resins to the coatings industry.