Community Insight - SpecialChem 4 Coatings

Coatings & Inks Trends Analysis

Our industry experts regularly analyze the evolution of SpecialChem Members preferences and share with you unique aggregated data!
Our ever-growing community and unique position in the market allow us to have exclusive insight on key information our members share with us, such as the performances they seek or the markets they serve.

Below you will find a list of Community Insights.

Focus of the month

Natural waxes, a way to go?
September, 2010

When interacting with our ever growing community of nearly 100,000 members we ask each month a question related to industry trends, concerns or innovation. This month we wanted to poll the industry on their perception on waxes and in particular where they see a potential for bio-based waxes in coatings and inks. In this case we are not talking about the wax coating on the outside of the famous Dutch Gouda cheeses however.

Past Community Insights

	July, 2010 - Green solvents remain solvents from a VOC perspective but they can bring HS&E benefits Everyone in the world is looking for greener, bio-based or sustainable chemistries to replace petro-chemical based products. In trying to reduce the environmental impact of coatings, the industry has really focused on eliminating VOC and HAPS from the coating formulation. However when looking at the longevity of the product life cycle of solvents, we are still far from a dead product. In lot’s of applications the only solution is still to work with solvent containing systems. The interesting challenge in front of us is to make use of the most sustainable solutions possible and this is why we asked for your feedback on what you consider the most critical product attribute that, when improved on, could significantly enhance the sustainability of the solvent of choice.

	June, 2010 - To outsource or not As the crisis has hit many companies hard, the areas where a lot of cut-backs have been made are related to R&D, Application development, Innovation etc. a “logical” step as this is an investment area within most organizations that typically have a pay-back of 3-5 years. When money is tight or losses are made, these are the easiest ways to reduce costs and to keep the company afloat.

	May, 2010 - Powder coatings, does it need more development work? Powder coatings, the technology to deliver a dry powdered coating particle to a substrate, then soften it to allow for a homogeneous film to be formed, has been around for decades. Different application techniques from electrostatic spraying to fluidized bed systems have been developed to increase efficiency and the polymers have been modified to overcome the high melt flow temperatures so other than metal substrates can be powder coated.

	April, 2010 - Challenges in the ink industry reviewed The ink world is largely driven by the way an ink system is applied. As a result we cannot easily speak about ink overall. Obviously the ink system itself will depend on the end-use but still each formulation will be tailored to match the specific needs of the equipment it is applied with. As a result the challenges in the ink industry are diverse. Additionally the ink industry is a highly competitive industry and very cost conscious!

	March, 2010 - Insight in the adoption of UV technology In our struggles to develop more environmental friendly coating systems we face many challenges ranging from performance constraints to deciding what resin system to use. Additionally we have the choice to select a curing mechanism, should we deploy air-drying, 2-component, coalescing through emulsion particle fusion or radiation-energy curing.

	February, 2010 - High throughput experimentation serves different purposes Having been a formulator myself, I have always looked for way to do things more efficient haven't you? When asking our community members this question they have responded in a way that is quite interesting. Indeed most formulators share the idea to do things more efficient, not only from a time perspective but also to increase reliability of results and even predictability of the outcome.

	January, 2010 - Bio-based or not…. This month we surveyed our coating community on the relevancy of bio-based content levels and how this may relate to your coating formulation and the (green) market perception of your formulation. Quite interesting is that the overwhelming feedback we received from you is that you do not yet see bio-based labeled raw materials as relevant in your formulation to be able to market the product as environmentally sound...

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