Industrial wood coatings encompass several market areas, including furniture, kitchen cabinets, building products and decorative coatings. Requirements for these markets largely depend on their field of application. Exterior performance is focused on high durability and protection against humidity, while interior coatings require properties such as scratch, chemical and abrasion resistance. One of the largest sectors of the interior market is the furniture industry. Several resin technologies are being used by coatings formulators in this market including solventborne (SB), waterborne (WB) UV polyurethane dispersions (PUDs) and self-crosslinking acrylics. Several criteria are of importance in considering which technology to use. Each technology has its advantages and disadvantages and a comparison has been summarized based on this criteria in Figure 1. The dominant technology used in North America is solventborne, including nitrocellulose (NC) and acid cure conversion varnish. These coatings have many benefits including fast dry time, very high gloss and they enhance the wood appearance. They are also very economical and can be easily applied by spraying, rolling, curtain coat and dipping. However, a significant disadvantage of using these materials is the high level of (volatile organic compound) VOCs and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and the limited varnish pot life. Due to increasing regulations for lower VOC and formaldehyde emissions, more environmentally friendly coatings are now in demand. This shift has opened the door to waterborne technologies, including UV PUDs and self-crosslinking acrylics.
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