UV Waterbased: a Coating Technology with a Reduced Environmental Footprint

Cytec assists the coating industry improve its environmental footprint by developing and marketing UV curable waterbased resins with distinct and meaningful environmental advantages. For years, Cytec’s UCECOAT^® range of energy curable waterbased resins have enabled formulators to remain compliant with changing environmental regulations while delivering outstanding performances across diverse coating applications.

Recent developments of UV waterbased resins with no label, solvent free content and, in some cases, with renewable raw materials content in excess of 60% excluding water are only some of the solutions that Cytec is offering to the industry to bring sustainable change to the coatings market.

Industry drivers for UV-waterbased

There are several important ways how the UCECOAT range of UV curable waterbased resins contribute to a sustainable change.

• As the UCECOAT polyurethane dispersions do not contain solvents, the products reduce VOC emissions during the very short curing process and reduce the product toxicity associated with solvent components.
   
• Reduced demand on the petroleum sector: UCECOAT UV waterbased resins can directly replace petroleum-based solventborne resins typically used to produce conventional coating resins and deliver outstanding performances.
   
• UV waterbased resins tend to have lower life-cycle environmental impacts - such as carbon footprints - than solventbased products.
   
• Cytec's UCECOAT UV waterborne product line includes dispersions and solutions used to formulate high performance primers and protective coatings for a wide range of substrates.

Automotive, teletronics, PVC flooring, paper coatings, wood flooring, furniture and cabinets, concrete tiles and metal parts are only some of the applications where UCECOAT UV waterborne products are used to achieve excellent coating performances and  reduced environmental impact.

The success of UCECOAT UV curing waterborne technology is largely attributed to outstanding performance of the coatings, very fast curing, low process costs per square meter of surface, and ecology compliance. UCECOAT resins can be applied by different coating techniques: roller, spray, curtain and vacuum coating. The low solid content allows a nice open pore finish on wood and it is possible to obtain a tack-free surface after physical drying so that dust collection is minimized and handling is easier.