Waterborne epoxy curing agent for industrial and decorative coatings

The Company

A major global manufacturer of paints and coatings for industrial and decorative applications.

This large multi-national organisation had lost a significant share of the growing market for waterborne epoxy concrete paint. The company planned to re-launch some of its products with the aim of re-establishing its position as a global leader in this market sector.

The remit was to produce a range of market leading decorative and industrial concrete floor paints that exhibit the following characteristics:

• Good hardness development
• The ability to achieve clean matt and glossy colours for ease of application
• Visible end of pot life
• Good in-can stability
• Extensive water durability

At the same time the company were in the process of rationalising the number of raw materials in use, so the chosen product had to offer formulation versatility.

The Solution

Amirez 142 satisfied all the technical performance criteria outlined by the coatings company as well as some important commercial considerations too.

This waterborne curing agent is suitable for either liquid epoxy or emulsified epoxy resins. The product will undergo a chemical reaction with the epoxy resin to yield a tough, durable coating.

The project was a massive undertaking for this global organisation and consequently, they needed to be 100% confident in the performance of the new products based on Amirez 142. It took many months of formulation fine tuning and field trials before the company were completely satisfied that the performance of the products could be reproduced consistently.

Amirez 142 is now technically approved for use in all waterborne epoxy paint systems.

The Benefits

Not only did the company choose Amirez 142 for its formulation versatility but also because of other benefits the product exhibits. Amirez 142 offers low toxicity, being both APEO and formaldehyde free and when compared with competitor equivalents has the following advantages:

Additional benefits include:

• Higher initial gloss
• Higher gloss retention
• Faster drying
• Visible end of pot life - enables the user to clearly identify when the product can no longer be applied
• Greater stability on dilution with water
• Better flexibility