Enhancing Automotive Coating Performance with State-of-the-Art Light Stabilizers and Surface Modifiers

摘要

Coatings in the automotive industry are essential and everywhere.Coatings not only give the body the desired color,but also provide weathering protection to UV-light exposed parts as well as a smooth finish to interior surfaces.Newly developed additives used for light stabilization and surface modification help to enhance the appearance and the durability of these coatings.Outdoor durability of OEM and refinish topcoats has always been an important focus area throughout the automotive coating industry.The topcoat weathering requirements must meet more and more stringent market standards as coatings technology is evolving as well.However,automotive refinish topcoats have additional challenges,not relevant for the OEM topcoats due to the application processes.Surely,there is no high-temperature bake for automotive refinish contrary to OEM coatings which restricts the resin technology enormously.Other challenges are found in the form of dust pick up,silicone contamination of the paint booth that would cause fish-eyes in the coating,irregularities in coating thickness due to multiple layer application,and finally the concept of improved in-can color.