Opportunities still to be leveraged in coatings' quest for a cobalt-free future

 
As Co-soaps come under increasing regulatory threat, the coatings sector is under pressure to find technically sound and commercially viable alternatives, to suit an array of alkyd-containing paints and inks applications. Using key selection criteria, the author benchmarks existing primary drier platforms to identify where the greatest gaps (and therefore the greatest potential) lie for potential siccatives for alkyd-based paints. We have developed a variety of classes of alternatives to cobalt, all based on manganese or iron catalysts that contain different nitrogen donor ligands to attain the desired functionalities of the driers in paint and coating formulations. Here we explore the research and development opportunities as technology players bring new thinking to the fore to find, test and approve optimum answers to coatings´ ongoing cobalt replacement challenge.