Trends and Novelties for ACS 2022

Kevin Niederer: I believe that much of the conversation will still be focused on the supply-chain situation we are all facing. Security of supply for coating manufacturers will continue to be a focus for our customers and for Ashland as an additive producer. We forecast a continued tightness of raw materials and capacity for many of our products and managing through this in 2022 will be a priority. We continue to see customers working toward improvements in paint performance in architectural paint and working toward improved hide, stain resistance, and washability. We are also seeing increased drive toward eco-friendly and sustainable products and we are working to support this trend where we can, with new additives to help customers make progress in these areas.

Jason Williams: The American Coatings Show and Conference helps Vencorex gain greater insight into the latest developments in the North American coatings market, as well as providing a good barometer for changing trends in many application areas. We foresee a strong focus on high-solids and waterborne technologies that provide solutions to decrease volatile organic compounds (VOC) in coating formulations. Another important industry need is higher productivity that can be achieved by using polyureas and polyaspartics, which are known for their very fast drying speed.

Carlos Bonessa: We expect to find new additives, some state-of-the-art new binders for replacing existing ones with less environmental impact, new fillers technology, and to see what other innovative companies are doing.

Ralph Jan Wörheide: The industry is facing unprecedented challenges – all at the same time. The European Green Deal and the more volatile raw material markets are only two of these challenges. I hope that companies will show solutions or at least ideas of how they plan to cope with these challenges. Digitalization and renewable raw materials would be a start. I hope to see more than only incremental small progression or adaptions from other industries, which don’t really fit for our industry.

Jennifer Stroh: With continued strong demand in the coatings industry following the depressed market in 2020, the expectation is for a strong showing at the American Coatings Show 2022. The quest for new improved colors pushing the limits of technology continues to be a focus. In addition to new colors, ease of processing and expanding the capacity of current manufacturing assets is desired. Post COVID, the architectural, industrial and marine markets continue to be strong. Automotive OEM development continues in spite of the difficulty sourcing computer chips.

Kevin Niederer: Our focus will be on reconnecting with a broad range of customers after a long period of reduced face-to-face communication. From an Ashland product perspective, we will be looking to showcase our new product developments for the worldwide market along with regionally focused product developments.

Jason Williams: Vencorex has been present in the United States for over 30 years, with a production facility in Freeport, Texas. North America is a key market for Vencorex, where we offer tailor-made solutions for customers and provide dedicated teams, a large distribution network, and a continuing commitment to customer needs. Our primary goal while attending the ACS will be to engage and exchange information with our U.S. customers and business partners from all over America. COVID-19 has held us back from many face-to-face conversations, and we look forward to seeing many customers and having good discussions. We will present our range of aliphatic isocyanates, with a special focus on “Easaqua”self-emulsifiable crosslinkers of 2K waterborne polyurethane coatings and on “Tolonate” low viscosity grades specifically designed for high-solids and solvent-free 2K polyurethane and polyurea/polyaspartic formulations.

Carlos Bonessa: Our focus will be to promote hydrophobic modified acrylics for architectural coatings, and we believe this could be a new trend in polymers with enhanced water resistance properties and a reduction of using film preservatives without affecting re-coatings.

Ralph Jan Wörheide: One focus will be digitalization and the use of smarter systems for process control. This includes innovative measurement systems and software solutions to connect data for horizontal (along the supply chain) and vertical (in the organization) data integration. We want to show our position as an innovator for this industry. Our measurement solutions are an important part of this.

Jennifer Stroh: Orion Engineered Carbons will be focusing on our super black developments pushing the boundaries of Jetness for automotive coatings. The Colour Black FW 310 and FW 255 have been formulated to an impressive light absorption value of 99.98%. Our “Orion Easy OE 430W” has proven groundbreaking in the field of easy dispersible carbon blacks offering a stir-in processing with advanced high Jetness. Orion has improved optical metrology techniques to measure deep black in a scientific and reproducible manner.

Jason Williams: One of our latest developments is Vencorex’s “Tolonate X F 450,” which has been specifically designed to provide elasticity to coatings while maintaining high hardness. It is especially suitable for fast drying formulations like aliphatic polyureas and polyaspartics, where it will help overcome their brittleness and provide an extended pot-life. “Tolonate X F 450” is a very versatile polyisocyanate that can be used alone or in combination with other hardeners, to effectively fine tune the curing time of the formulation. In addition, the remarkable low viscosity of Tolonate X F 450 is of particular interest to develop a broad range of ultra-low VOC formulations.

Carlos Bonessa: We expect to cause some impact with polymers beyond expectations since we have a reasonable and innovative portfolio. For roof coatings we are presenting the “Synthacril 7029,” a new bimodal binder with better DPR and better water ponding resistance; new nano PU and epoxy hybrids for floor coatings and surgical rooms with very low water absorption; and good chemicals and abrasion resistance, such as “Synthapox H 1040” and “Synthapur H 7450.”

Ralph Jan Wörheide: We will present a prototype of our fully automatic corrosion test system, where test panels can be measured and evaluated in a non-destructive way. In addition, we will present technologies from some of our international cooperation partners, where we function as integrator. This includes a new technology for fast and simple surface characterization and also systems to measure inline in paint application lines for the improvement of process control. And we will also present our “Smart Paint Factory” vision, where we invite the industry to partner with us.

Jennifer Stroh: At the show, Orion will be discussing the highlights identified above as well as bringing several items coated with our super black formulation.