This section of the coatings technology course will focus on Powder

Coatings.
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In learning about powder coatings, three sections will be covered. The first
section will focus on reasons powder coatings are used. Environmental,
economic, and performance reasons will be reviewed. The second section
will discuss what powder coatings are. Information about the chemistry of
powder coatings will be discussed. Additionally, the process to make powder
coatings will be reviewed and the application process to apply powder
coatings to substrates will be covered. The last section will focus on who the
end users are that apply powder coatings.
Powder Coatings are comprised of the same types of components as liquid paints
except the majority of the raw materials are solids and Powder Coatings contain no
solvents or water. They have a Resin / Binder system which will react with a
Crosslinker. They sometimes have a Catalyst which will catalyze the reaction
between the binder and the crosslinker. A very important ingredient in powder
coatings are the Flow Modifiers. Since powder coatings use no solvents the rely on
these flow modifiers to get the system to flow and level while they are in the molten
or melted stage before the crosslinking begins to take place. Pigments are included
in powder coatings should the final product be a colored paint system. Almost every
powder coating formulation contains an Air Release Agent called Benzoin which
helps eliminate defects that could be caused by air entrapped in the film or the
release of volatile components in underlying layers. Powder Coatings may contain
Other Additives like anti-oxidants to minimize yellowing or Hinder Amine Light
Stabilizer and UV Absorbers to provide exterior durability. A difference between
powder coatings and liquid coatings is the manufacturing process of powder
coatings, which is quite different than liquid coatings.
Powder coatings use some specific different types of chemistries: The GMA Acrylic
systems provide - excellent exterior durability and appearance. They are typically
used in PPG’s Automotive powder clearcoat and the powder clearcoat that goes on
Harley Davison motorcycles. In most of these formulations the GMA acrylic, which
is an epoxy functional polymer, is cross linked with a di-functional carboxylic acid
like dodecanedioic acid. The Polyester/Bis A Epoxy system or “Hybrid” provides
excellent chip resistance, but the exterior durability of these systems is not good.
The powder primers that PPG provides to GM and Chrysler is this type of Powder.
The Polyester/HAA (Hydroxyalkylamide) provides good mechanical properties and
decent weather resistance. The Original Powder Primer for GM was this type of
chemistry. Polyester/TGIC formulations have good mechanical properties and
weather resistance. They are used in numerous applications, but there are some
toxicity concerns with the use of TGIC. Urethane systems are typically hydroxyl
functional polyesters that are cross linked with blocked isocyanates provide
outstanding weathering resistance and toughness. Epoxy coatings are inexpensive
and offer outstanding adhesion. Because of the high loading of epoxy resins they
exhibit poor exterior durability. They are typically used in interior applications like
Delta Faucets or for Automotive Under hood Applications. Acrylic/HAA systems are
similar to polyester/HAA described above but use acrylics as the binder instead of
polyesters. Because they are acrylic based they provide good exterior durability.
Formulations with this type of chemistry have been used to coat vending machines
in the past.
The different steps used to process powder coatings will be reviewed. They
include assembly, premixing, and extrusion of the raw materials. The final
step is the grinding and sometimes classification.
Grinding is typically done with an Air Classification Mill (ACM). The extruded
flake material is fed in to the mill where the rotating hammers on the rotor
plate break the chip into smaller particles. Air flows through the mill and
carries these smaller particles toward the classification wheel. The speed of
the classification wheel determines how small the particles have to be to
pass through and reach the cyclone. The faster the classification wheel the
smaller the particles need to be. Thus the settings that are chosen on the
classification wheel determine the particle size of the ground product.
Classification is a separate that occurs after grinding for some products to
remove the smaller particles which may interfere with the handling or
application of the powder. Because this step reduces overall yield it is
typically used for automotive customers only who need a much more narrow
particle size distribution than what can be achieved on the ACM.
Classification works on similar principles that the classification wheel inside
the ACM works on where particle separation is controlled by the rotational
speed of the rotor (classification) wheel and airflow through the mill.
The difference in particle size distribution can be see for the same material
ground on an ACM before and after classification. The blue curve is the non-
classified product and the pink curve is the classified product. Most of the
particles that are less than 10 microns in size have been removed in the
classified sample.
A corona charged gun works by passing the powder particles through an
electrostatic field, which is created by the corona. The particles then
become charged and will then electrostatically adhere to the grounded
substrate.
Picture is of a car body after powder clearcoat application before it goes into
the oven.
After the car body is baked it now looks like this picture. During the bake
cycle the powder melted, flowed, and cured providing a glossy clear coating
over the colored basecoat, which in this case was a dark green metallic
basecoat.
Powder is sold into two markets by PPG. The first would be the industrial
coatings market which it is applied on Lawn Equipment, Plumping Fixtures,
Office Furniture, etc… which is considered general industrial. Washing
Machines, Dryers, & Refrigerators which fall under Appliance coatings
market: It is also used for under hood automotive components & Automotive
Trim which is considered Automotive Parts and Accessories (APA)
Customers in the Industrial Coatings market are as follows:
The second market is the Automotive OEM Coatings business. Here PPG
sells automotive powder primers and automotive powder clearcoats.
PPG was the first paint company in the world to commercialize powder
clearcoats in automotive industry at BMW’s Dingolfing assembly plant in
Germany.
PPG has many competitors in the powder coatings industry which include
the following.
The use of powder coatings can be summarized into pros and cons which
are listed.
Additional information regarding powder coatings can be found by using the
following sources.-