The main trend of water-based wood coatings after ten years

Water based wood coatings entered the market later than oil-based wood coatings, especially as they still account for less than 5% of the total amount of wood coatings. Therefore, the opportunities for using water-based wood coatings are much fewer than oil-based wood coatings. Naturally, it is impossible to talk about how many people have accumulated rich experience in the application of water-based wood coatings, let alone the complete and mature application process of water-based wood coatings.

'Composite' will become the keyword for the development and application of water-based coating products

The combination of new product development technologies will bring about the optimal balance between product performance and cost. The "composite" technology is commonly present in the product development process: ① Physical composite of technology. Physical blending and composite technology such as polyurethane and acrylic acid The chemical combination of technology. Chemical composite technology can be seen everywhere, including chemical copolymerization composite technology of PU and PA, silicone modified polymer, epoxy resin modified polyurethane, inorganic organic lotion technology modified by nano materials, etc. ③ A product composed of primer and topcoat materials of different types of film-forming substances that are combined together. Generally, ordinary water-based acrylic paint is used as the primer, while high-grade polyurethane paint or PUA composite lotion paint is used as the top coat to form different product supporting systems. The composite coating process of coating products will comprehensively and fully demonstrate the performance advantages of coating products, and eliminate the inherent deficiencies of water-based wood coatings in certain product performance and construction characteristics. The composite of coating technology is mainly manifested in: ① the composite of paint film coloring technology, including substrate rubbing, base coloring, surface finishing and other composite technologies. ② Composite of ambient temperature drying and accelerated drying by baking of paint film The combination of conventional water-based wood coating curing technology and water-based UV curing technology Composite of primer brushing and topcoat spraying. ⑤ The special construction process of combining clear varnish and colored paint, especially the effect of washing white or semi transparent white, is highly favored.

Home decoration owners purchase high-quality paint film effects

Due to its poor construction tolerance, water-based wood coatings often result in unsatisfactory final paint film effects. For home decoration owners, what they really buy is not paint, but the paint film effect after the paint is used. This requires water-based coating workers to pay double attention to the explanation of coating construction technology, attach great importance to the operation training of construction personnel, and even establish a large engineering construction team belonging to the coating manufacturer to ensure that high-quality paint film effects can be obtained after the construction of water-based wood coatings.

Catering to the differentiation of the furniture manufacturing industry through the differentiation of coating varieties

On the development path of rapid technological progress, water-based wood coatings have significant advantages such as health and environmental protection, freshness and naturalness, simple construction, good adhesion, and good leveling. However, they also have shortcomings such as slow drying speed, low glossiness and fullness of the paint film, poor hardness and scratch resistance, and other physical properties. But this does not mean that water-based wood coatings will be ineffective under current technological conditions. Differentiated coating varieties can fully meet the differentiated needs of the furniture manufacturing industry in segmented markets. Children's toys, indoor wooden doors, suite furniture, and other wooden products do not require high performance in terms of hardness and resistance to strong solvent corrosion, making them classic battlefields where water-based wood coatings can fully exert their strength.

Four main directions for technological research and development of water-based wood coatings

Research on the physical properties of "scratch resistance, hardness, and wear resistance" in one. In terms of improving hardness and wear resistance, a two-component crosslinking curing film-forming system can be used to increase the glass transition temperature of the coating film. During resin synthesis, special attention should be paid to the control of the relative molecular weight distribution and relative molecular weight size of the resin, as well as the combination of soft and hard segments in the molecule, the content of reactive functional groups, and their distribution in the molecular structure. The variety and dosage of curing agents in the two-component reaction system should be adjusted to obtain coatings with both high hardness and good elasticity. In addition, adding wear-resistant materials and scratch resistant additives to coatings can effectively improve the wear resistance of the coating. Research on the drying speed of water-based wood coatings. The drying speed of water-based wood coatings is influenced by many factors, including external environmental temperature, humidity, air flow rate, and coating thickness, as well as certain characteristics of the film-forming substances in the formulation, such as glass transition temperature and self crosslinking. Other components in the formula, such as thickeners, cosolvents, and film-forming aids with water retention properties, as well as isocyanates used to react with the main paint, can also affect the drying speed of water-based wood coatings. Therefore, when designing the formula for water-based wood coatings, from the perspective of drying speed, the first step is to select suitable film-forming substances, followed by designing a suitable formula, and making appropriate adjustments to the formula based on specific construction processes and drying environments. If conditions permit, a baking assembly line and coating equipment can be set up to cooperate, and infrared drying performance can also be increased for moisture flash drying. Research on the cost of water-based wood coatings materials. The retail price of water-based wood coatings in the current home decoration coating market is more than twice that of oil-based wood coatings, and the scale price of water-based wood coatings in the furniture coating market is also about twice that of oil-based wood coatings. To achieve widespread use of water-based wood coatings in the wood home decoration market and wood furniture market, the material cost must be reduced to about 1.2-1.5 times that of oil-based wood coatings. Research on the application process of water-based wood coatings. If we consider 'three parts paint, seven parts paint' as a mantra that praises and curses paint, then this mantra is more effective for water-based wood coatings. Due to the close relationship between the coating effect of water-based wood coatings and factors such as environmental temperature, humidity, construction process, and coating substrate, their construction tolerance is far inferior to that of oil-based wood coatings. Therefore, in order to achieve the same level of coating effect as oil-based wood coatings, the key research and proficient mastery of the coating process of water-based wood coatings is an unavoidable and urgent major issue for water-based wood coating workers.