Progress in the development of acrylic resin-based powder coatings – an overview

Abstract

Powder coatings, due to the lack of solvents and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), have gained in importance compared to conventional liquid systems. They fulfill key criteria such as effectiveness, economics, energy efficiency, environmental compliance, and excellent surface finish. Recently, low curing temperature and UV-cured systems have been increasingly used. These techniques offer a lot of advantages such as, application of powder coatings on the heat-sensitive materials and energy savings. Acrylic resins are rarely used in powder systems, mainly due to their price. Nevertheless, they are an attractive alternative in low temperature curing or UV-cured systems (free radical or cationic polymerization) thanks to their chemical structure. The review article focuses on the correlation between the chemical structure of the corresponding monomers in the resin and their properties and application in powder coatings. Moreover, the correlation between the structure of acrylic resin and the powder coating formulation process was described.