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'Intelligent' coatings protect high-value products

Bayer MaterialScience develops polyurethane dispersions for peel-off and self-healing coatings.

Bayer MaterialScience's temporary smart coatings for mobile electronic devices protect high-value surfaces during production. Once they have served their purpose, the coatings can be peeled off easily with no residue left behind.

 

 

 

 

Polyurethane coatings formulated with Bayer raw materials have proven effective in a wide variety of applications. Smart coatings open up a whole series of additional functions, however, from the protection of sensitive electronic devices to safety functions or "intelligent" reactions to external stimuli. Such functional coatings can provide a competitive advantage in a number of industrial segments. Bayer MaterialScience is drawing on its extensive know-how to keep pace with this trend toward smart coatings with innovative developments, some of which it presented at the European Coatings Show 2013 in March.

One example is temporarily applied, functional coatings for mobile electronic devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, and laptops. The production process for these high-end products includes one step in which surfaces that have already been produced must be protected against chemicals, mechanical damage, and dust. Experts at Bayer MaterialScience have developed dispersions and starting formulations for environmentally compatible coatings that provide this protective function. Once they have served their purpose, the coatings can be peeled off easily, and no residue is left behind.

"Electronics and IT companies in Asia began using temporary functional coatings based on raw materials from the Bayhydrol UH and Bayhydrol UV lines in their volume production processes last year," says Anand Khot, a smart coatings expert at Bayer MaterialScience in the Asia Pacific region. The coatings cover logos and labels during the anodic oxidation of aluminum, or they protect sensitive displays against damage during the CNC milling process.

Temporarily applied coatings can also protect three-dimensional parts and can be peeled off easily.

 

 

Temporary functional coatings are also of interest to the automotive and furniture industries. There are basically two possible formulations: waterborne, one-component systems or systems that cure in just a few seconds under UV light. The coatings can be applied in various ways. Because they are also sprayable, they form a perfect, easily removable protective shell -- even on objects with strongly curved surfaces or edges.

The portfolio also includes polyurethane dispersions for waterborne coatings with a self-healing function. In case of scratches, they can reposition themselves in their original formation and the scratch disappears, thanks to the elastic reversibility of the hydrogen bonds. As the dispersions are suitable for the coating of plastics and metals, they are mostly used in the electronics and automotive industries.

Other smart coatings not only protect a surface and give it a high-quality appearance, they also impart a soft and pleasant handle. Such soft-touch coatings can also be produced using dispersions from Bayer MaterialScience. These raw materials enable the formulation of solvent-free systems that meet exacting requirements with respect to hydrolytic, yellowing, and chemical resistance.

To visit the special Bayer MaterialScience coatings website, click here.

Published May 2013

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