UV Curing Powder Coating Resins

Introduction to UV curable powder coatings
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DSM Coating Resins focuses within UV curing on new breakthrough technologies.

DSM Coating Resins sees, in UV curing, a technology that complies with the latest health and environmental demands and regulations, we support the advantages of this technology such as:

• High productivity
• Very fast cure
• Relatively low system costs
• Good coating properties
• Minimal emission of volatile compounds
• Little waste material

This still young technology continues to develop new applications for UV curing. As a result new coating systems emerge and develop. DSM uses its long experience in coating resin chemistry to contribute to these new developments thereby providing our customers with systems that meet future regulations and demands.

Our experience in coating resins has been in the development of UV powder resins. For example, several UV-powder binder systems developed by DSM Coating Resins are now commercially available. An example is the Baldor line in the US (see photo above) in which electrical engines are coated with UV powder after they are assembled.

Our experience in ready made coating formulations has been in the development of UV-curable specialties. For example optical fibres. These activities are part of our business unit DSM Desotech.

UV Curable Powder Coatings offer several advantages compared to other coating techniques. They are now in the early stage of commercialization and are looking forward to a bright future. With the use of UV powder coating the advantages of conventional thermosetting powder are achieved with faster, lower temperature UV curing.

The main advantages of UV curable powder systems are:

• Excellent coating properties
• Low system costs
• High cure speed - shorter oven and curing cycles
• No emission of Volatile Organic Compounds
• Maximum powder use due to overspray recycling
• Application of thicker layers in one step (depending on pigmentation)

These properties make UV curable powder suitable for substrates which are heat sensitive, for example MDF and plastics as well as various metals. DSM offers a range of UV curable powder resins available under the tradename of Uracross.