The Dow Chemical Co. announced it has received the American Coatings Award for sharing the most outstanding technical presentation at the recent American Coatings Conference. The award-winning technical paper reportedly detailed the development of new alkyd chemistry offerings to help solve the challenge of developing environmentally friendly alkyd-based coatings that resist corrosion, adhere well, and remain glossy. Erin Vogel, Ph.D., research scientist for industrial coatings, accepted the award from the American Coatings Association (ACA) and partner Vincentz Network during the conference’s plenary session.

“It is such an honor to gain industry recognition for our work in advancing the performance and sustainability of paints and coatings,” said Vogel. “Our goal is to close the performance gap between reliable solvent-borne alkyd coatings that can emit hazardous chemicals and environmentally friendly waterborne versions. Only 10% of the overall alkyd coatings market is currently waterborne, so we’re confident that the availability of these new offerings will help encourage a market shift toward using alkyd coatings with improved environmental profiles.”

Market trends reportedly have favored solvent-borne alkyds, particularly for use in industrial coatings, due to properties such as fast hardness development, high gloss, excellent adhesion and overall corrosion protection. Despite these performance benefits, solvent-borne alkyd coatings contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that enter the air as coatings dry. In contrast, waterborne alkyd coatings have low- and near-zero VOC capabilities, but developing waterborne alkyd chemistries that perform well has remained challenging because alkyds do not mix with water.

To overcome this challenge, Dow’s proprietary process mechanically disperses alkyds into water to develop stable waterborne alkyd dispersions. These dispersions reportedly can be formulated into ultra-low VOC alkyd coatings that can match or exceed the performance of solvent-borne formulations and display excellent gloss, adhesion and corrosion resistance properties.

For more information, visit www.dowcoatingmaterials.com.