The age of aquareous - taking water-borne epoxies all the way

 
The market for waterborne epoxy coatings is experiencing a unique ?green wave? of change that started in China but is being felt around the world. The main driver for the enormous growth of waterborne coatings technologies is undoubtedly VOC reduction, and current epoxy binders allow formulated paints to meet the most stringent VOC legislation. Yet, many of today?s offerings still use considerable amounts of co-solvent. While conventional, co-solvent based waterborne epoxy technologies are becoming standard practice around the world, the next level of innovation will have to take the waterborne concept to its true meaning by completely removing co-solvents from binders and formulations. We will present a new co-solvent free waterborne epoxy system that fulfils the highest requirements in metal and concrete protection, as well as discuss new challenges developers and formulators are facing in their quest for ultra-low VOC waterborne paints.