Biobased energy curing waterborne solutions with UCECOAT®

The vison of allnex is in part to embrace the circularity principle. Plants act as little reactors, producing billions of tons of organic matter a year through photosynthesis.

Biobased materials offer a unique opportunity for circularity and reduced carbon footprint. allnex is incorporating biogenic carbon into it’s portfolio including radiation curable waterborne products.

allnex has been at the forefront of sustainable coating solutions for decades, with a legacy in waterborne, energy-curable, powder and crosslinker technologies that have significantly shaped the industry. Gradually merging these technologies has resulted in even further advancements.

Novel technologies such as energy-curable polyurethane dispersions (UV PUDs) combine the ecological benefits of waterborne products with the robust performance of energy-curable systems.

Bringing both high performance and environmental benefits, UV PUDs constitute a fast growing product range in the industrial wood coatings market today. Let’s illustrate the attributes of UV PUDs, from their creation (Composition) over their application and benefits for the consumer (Performance in use) and ultimately their end of life (Lifetime & disposal).

UV PUDs largely respond to environmental regulations due to their waterborne nature and low level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Novel developments make use of safe raw materials, gradually banning tin catalyst, volatile organic amines and alkoxylated alkyl phenol emulsifiers. They have the potential to use renewable feedstock, which is where our current focus lies.

Waterborne UV products demonstrate low viscosity and are easily sprayable. Their minimum film formation temperature (MFFT) is low and does not require the use of additional coalescent materials, which would increase air emissions. They keep the high productivity of instantaneous energy curing supported by new developments in low-energy UV-LED lamps.