Waterborne Coatings

The intensity of research into developing waterborne industrial maintenance coatings (which began in earnest roughly twenty-five years ago) has accelerated greatly in recent years. There are many reasons, including:

• increasing costs of petroleum-derived raw materials (e.g. solvents and resins)
• environmental factors, such a more stringent VOC and HAPS regulations
• pressure from lower cost off-shore manufacturers which spurs differentiation with new technologies
• a move to green products and building standards, such as the U.S. GS-11 Green Seal standard and LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design)

Innovation will be a key to any sustained success in this market. An environmental example is potential legislation requiring ultra-low VOC contents of less than 15 g/liter. As an example of green products, it has been demonstrated that coatings systems can help reduce energy consumption. ‘Cool roofs’ that use high performance acrylics, for example, will play a major role in retrofit and new building designs. The dilemma is that waterborne coatings have historically not been able to provide the performance properties required in many industrial applications. Most architectural maintenance coatings are glorified ‘house paints’, fine for light duty applications but inadequate for most industrial maintenance environments. Specifically, waterbornes don’t traditionally have the tight cross-linking of epoxies or polyurethanes which allows those coatings to exhibit outstanding corrosion protection.

Madison Chemical Breakthrough Technology

Madison Chemical recognized the significance of these trends and in 2002 introduced a waterborne polyurethane called AquaTech. While seeing duty in areas such as floors and interior walls, it remained somewhat of an underutilized product. However, that all changed with two seemingly unrelated discoveries during 2007 which allowed our researchers to open the door to a number of exciting new applications for this technology.

They discovered both a novel adhesion promoter called AP-50 and an easy-to-use metal surface preparation compound called FerroGrip. Working synergistically, these two technologies provide adhesion results comparable to that of a commercial abrasive blast (NACE 3 or SSPC-SP6). Taking these discoveries and applying them to our ongoing work with waterbornes led to the FusionClad system for light to moderate industrial service. We caution that water dispersible industrial coatings are not recommended for heavy service use, such as embedment, extended ponding water or continuous immersion. In those situations we recommend either our 100% solids, fast setting polyurethanes (e.g., CorroCote Ultra), or the easy to use ‘Mix and Apply’ solvent based products (e.g., AcrylaThane). Please contact Madison for advice on the system best suited to your needs.

FerroGrip Surface Conditioner, one of the lynchpins of the water-borne breakthrough, is a soap-like nonhazardous compound which is sprayed on the substrate surface at full strength using a simple low-pressure sprayer. Over a period of about 45 minutes, it dissolves mill scale, lifts oxidation, removes contaminants and deposits a layer of AP-50 Adhesion Promoter. The prepared steel is ready to accept the FusionClad products.

The adhesion of the finished coating system is typically around 1200-1500 PSI, more than sufficient for light to moderate service duty. The FusionClad System is also economical, as FerroGrip reduces significantly the cost associated with surface preparation by eliminating the need for abrasive blasting or laborious power tool cleaning.

Of course, FusionClad products can still be used over a substrate prepared by traditional surface preparation methods such as abrasive blasting or power tool cleaning. The choice is yours, but keep in mind that Madison’s No-Blast technology provides equivalent results with far less cost and hassle.

The FusionClad System

Three complementary waterborne coatings comprise the FusionClad System:

FusionClad Primer – advanced polymer-based steel primer
FusionClad TC (short for Top Coat) – advanced acrylic topcoat
FusionClad TC Ultra – advanced waterborne polyurethane topcoat

Suggested end uses include a variety of interior and exterior applications, such as:

• fabricated steel or iron structures, e.g. trusses, girders, beams and other shapes
• sheet metal of all kinds and products manufactured from same
• metal cladding or paneling
• furniture, shelving, racking
• exterior of storage tanks, piping, silos

For detailed product specifications and application instructions, refer to Madison’s Technical Data Sheets and Application Instructions for the aforementioned products.