Discover the benefits of polyurethane dispersions

It’s increasingly getting tough for coating and adhesive formulators and end-users. The stringent environmental regulations enforce the formulators to use only low VOC products; coating formulators, on the other hand, are still on the fence as they just have to meet the technical requirements for the coating or adhesive.

Solution, however, surfaced; this time it came in the form of Waterborne Polyurethane, which are high on quality and low in VOCs.

• Here is a list of properties that define modern day polyurethane dispersion range:
• Ultra low solvent content
• Ultra low odor
• low viscosity at high molecular weights
• low temperature drying
• incredible polyurethane performance
• superior adhesion to a wide variety of substrates

Polyurethane dispersions are known to provide superior coating and adhesive properties for use on different substrates such as wood, plastics, and glass. The increasingly regulatory compulsions for the usage of low VOC products have drove the demand for Polyurethane Dispersion across industries; and this demand is going to keep on soaring in the future as well. However, the manufacturers are likely to keep on experimenting for bettering the quality of their products and to come up with more products to meet the growing demands for high quality, environmentally friendly products for coatings and adhesives.
 

To read more on Polyurethane Dispersions, please check out our other blog posts.

The development of polyurethane dispersion

Over the past few years, there has been an increasing trend of the use of polyurethane dispersion across industries due to various reasons. In fact, it has been considered the best and the safest substitute for solvent based coatings. These solvent-based coatings are found to be eco-friendly in nature. 

In the polyurethane coating industry, their usage is growing rapidly and expected to grow further due to various environment legislations. The increased use of these coatings has brought up various technical advancements. These dispersions are made up of fully reacted polyureas, which contain small and discrete polymer particles, ranging from 0.01-5.0 microns in a continuous water phase. They don’t feature isocyanate residues and consist of zero or a very low level of volatile organic content. They have been found safe to use and are very much suitable for compliant coating applications.

The most widely used application of Polyurethane Dispersion is in the manufacturing of different types of foams. For example, the flexible foam is used in the upholstery sector and the rigid foams are used inside the walls of refrigerators and freezers. In the similar way, foams are also used in car seats, head rests and arm rests. It is also known that the manufacturing of thermal insulation panels is also designed using this. The polyurethane consists of medium-density fibers that can make awesome stretchable dresses.