There continues to be a significant need to advance the technology of coatings to address competitive commercial production challenges, application demands and priority performance needs. The critical role of additives in coatings to influence their formulation, application and performance continues to be a strong focus of research and development efforts. Recent advances in nano-materials and their application in coatings are beginning to provide many new opportunities to seek enhancements in the preparation and performance of coating systems.
In coating performance, additive contributions to applied paint self-healing properties, coating corrosion resistance, coating color specifications and film adhesion properties are noteworthy. Additives can provide coating in-service sensing characteristics that offer alerts for the application of specific maintenance protocols based on changes in the coating. Additives that can participate in modifying the applied coating's physical properties triggered by environmental and substrate changes represent one of the outstanding challenges for additive development.