Expanding the toolbox of polyurethane coatings for the automotive industry: From low temperature processing to biobased crosslinkers

 
Light weighting to reduce fuel consumption and the reduction of carbon footprint in materials and processing are major drivers for car producers. Polyurethane coatings, thanks to their performance and versatility, have been on the leading edge of coating technology for the last decades. We now report two further milestones in PU chemistry. Introduction of thermolatent crosslinkers allows low temperature curing of 2K PU clear coats which will be a key enabling technology for painting of multi material vehicles. Launching the first polyurethane crosslinker with a significant renewable content that has not come at the expense of performance will allow reducing carbon footprint and increasing the use of materials based on renewable feedstock in car production.