At the European Coatings Show 2015 from April 21-23 in Nuremberg, the industry's largest event worldwide, Bayer MaterialScience will be introducing new milestones in polyurethanes, underscoring its global leadership in polyurethane raw materials for high-performance and environmentally compatible coatings and adhesives as well as its alignment on the needs of its customers."Our objective is to incorporate our partners along the value chain and their know-how into our development efforts as early as possible to ensure that our customers are successful in the market," says Daniel Meyer, Head of the Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties Business Unit and member of the Executive Committee of Bayer MaterialScience. "We will increasingly offer material solutions resulting from development partnerships. We need to understand today what the customer needs from us tomorrow, That, in turn, provides him with new opportunities in the market."
PDI delivers first bio-based crosslinker for polyurethanes
Customers are increasingly demanding products based on renewable raw materials. Environmental compatibility is becoming a market requirement. At the European Coatings Show, Bayer MaterialScience is showcasing a milestone in this field: Pentamethylene diisocyanate (PDI) is a new isocyanate, 70 percent of whose carbon content comes from biomass without generating any direct competition for food production. With this addition to its portfolio, Bayer MaterialScience can for the first time offer its customers an eco-friendly hardener component, which for them is a key differentiating factor. A comprehensive technology platform currently is being developed to evaluate additional uses for PDI-based raw materials in coatings, adhesives and other applications.Bayer MaterialScience intends to bring the first PDI-based product to market in April 2015. Commercial manufacturing is to follow in 2016 with an annual capacity of up to 20,000 metric tons. These products will be manufactured in existing plants using energy-efficient gas-phase technology.
The automotive coating of the future: energy-saving coating of a mix of materials
The need to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions is spurring the development of lightweight motor vehicles made from a mix of different materials. For automakers, the cost- and energy-efficiency of the coating process plays a crucial role. Also very important is the appearance of a coating – from the purchase of a car to resale. Bayer MaterialScience has developed an innovative and sustainable technology for coating plastic add-on parts at low temperature, which is designed specifically to address these issues.The topcoats cure up to 30 percent faster than with established two-component polyurethane coatings, without compromising the outstanding appearance. In the medium term, the coating system will most likely be suitable for the mixed coating of plastic, composite and metal substrates. The low temperature makes it possible to fire the oven with alternative energy sources, such as district heat.
