The foresight of Akzo Nobel, aiside and BASF for Waterborne Coatings

The water-based coating represents a technology that has existed in the market for many years, especially when it first came into the market. Peter Tomlinson, head of AkzoNobel's automotive and specialty coatings business, said that at present, it has been observed that developing regions, especially China, are particularly prominent in the development trend of waterborne coatings, because waterborne coatings are very obvious for reducing VOC emissions. Water based coatings can replace solvent based coatings, but the challenges are: the cost of solvent based coatings is low, the application prospect is broad, and the application window of water-based coatings is usually much narrower, and it is very sensitive to the changes of humidity and temperature. However, AkzoNobel can choose the products that can meet the demand function when considering the environmental protection performance of diversified aquatic product portfolio. The use of high solid and waterborne coating is one of the methods. The main advantages of water-based coating are its outstanding environmental protection characteristics and higher coating performance. Steven R. markovich, executive vice president and President of transportation coatings and greater China of Ashtar paint system (hereinafter referred to as Ashtar), said that Ashtar focuses on cooperating with customers to develop coating solutions that meet their needs. In spite of the production pressure brought by the weak construction, but in terms of the market, the transformation of more environmentally friendly water-based technology has brought the production growth, while the input cost has increased, it has also brought the income growth. James Embree, head of OEM coating market and product in North America of BASF, a German company with a global vision, said that after years of development, BASF has developed new resins and processed aluminum for waterborne coatings.

When turning to water-based pigments, colors are developed in both water-based and solvent based coatings. With the development of water transport, this demand has decreased over the years. Water based coatings, especially those with integrated process, need longer time to ensure the quality of splashing. "BASF is committed to sustainable development as an innovative company and a globally advanced integrated process company, which is why BASF invested in water-based technologies many years ago and has continued to invest in sustainable technologies ever since," said Frank Hezel, vice president of BASF coatings Mexico Tomlinson has identified many trends and technologies, such as sustainable coating system, self-healing and high scratch resistant coating, low VOC coating system, functional coating and surface, battery coating driven by electrification trend, radar transparent and visible coating driven by automatic driving, etc. The electric and autonomous vehicle industries are focused on connectivity, autonomy, sharing and electrification, markowich said. Regardless of the market trend, coatings will continue to play a key role. As driverless vehicles become more cabin centric, Ashtar will study new interior coatings. Carpooling brings new color decision makers to the forefront, and appearance color is also very important for brand building. Electrification is full of new opportunities and challenges in covering surface area. In recent years, BASF has also actively participated in the development of technology, making the future mobility possible. Some sustainable development trends, such as lidar detection, radar non-interference and easy to clean coatings, including low-temperature curing, as well as the use of comprehensive processes to compress the floor area of paint workshop, reduce energy use and VOCs, continue to promote market innovation. The increasing use of automation, connectivity, sharing and electric vehicles is an area of interest for automotive coating marking. In the automatic driving system, the information transmission between the vehicle and its operating environment depends on the lidar and radar system. Automotive OEMs are looking for coatings that improve vehicle performance and reliability while reducing total cost. In an era of modern transportation, every coating industry should contribute to the society.