A new development in color metallics for powder coatings
Metallic flake pigments present a few challenges to powder coatings formulators for several reasons, including their poor electrical charging characteristics. This article explains the fundamental differences between the way metallic flake pigments perform in solventborne systems and in powder coating systems. The article discusses particle size, resin mixing, surface orientation, and other aspects that a formulator needs to know when working with metallic flake pigments in powder coatings. It then explains a new formulating technique that overcomes the obstacles to the successful formulation of powder coating systems with metallic flakes.
Increasing performance demands in the powder coatings market have raised the requirements for improved metallic pigments that offer better durability and compatibility with a variety of resin systems. Performance tests revealed that fundamental differences between liquid solventborne systems and powder coating systems affect extrapolating the properties of metallics. Initially, our development focused on determining the rheology and curing mechanism of metallics in conventional solventborne systems, compared with powder coating systems. Once determined, we then sought to modify metallic flake pigments so that they would behave in powder coatings just as they do in liquid solventborne coating systems.