Heat sensitive materials such as natural wood and thermal treated wood can not be powder coated today industrially. Low temperature curing and UV curing powder coatings for MDF and other engineered wood is already on the market and further developments to lower the curing temperatures, shorten the curing times and improve the surface properties are actively targeted. The limitation of UV-curing methods for wood is the 3-dimensional shape of wood. Additionally powder coatings for out door use contain UV-protecting pigments, protecting the coating itself and the wood substrate. These UV absorbing pigments will prevent the UV radiation to penetrate the coating and therefore will lead to incomplete curing process.

The aimed breakthrough is a technology to powder coat thermal treated wood, either by heat (infrared) or by light, not absorbed from the UV-protective pigments, exhibiting excellent wheatherability and long term durability. Target would be a lifespan of 20yeras.

This breakthrough offers the use of thermal treated wood as a material for exterior constructions without excessive greying, suiting the need for exterior durability equivalent to the metal coatings used in architectural applications. Beside new powder coating formulations, a new infrared oven processing technology will be developed to heat only the surface of the wooden material and to avoid heat stress to the core.

The application of powder on wooden material offers significant advantages compared to liquid paint or lamination foil. Powder coatings are very cost effective, environmental friendly without any solvent emission or waste of coating material and in addition they contain no halogens or heavy metals allowing easy disposal of products after their life time. Powder coatings allow a great freedom of design in shape of substrate, color and effects.

Today by the chemistry of the curing reactions exterior grade powders can not be formulated as low temperature cure version suitable for wood coatings. New curing mechanisms are developed. Extension of the weatherabilty of coating systems could be achieved by encapsulating UV absorbing nanoparticles into the powder coating. To apply powder electrostatically on natural wood a new process and new powder have to be developed achieving a sufficient powder application and suitable coating film thickness.

Please find more information about the developed product here >>