April 2021

TOC ... Table of Contents

F E AT U R E S
4 One Evolutionary Path of
Organofunctional Silanes:
AlkoxySilane Functional
Silicones and their Applications

8 GMI: Concrete Surface

Treatment Chemicals Market
Size Worth $15 Billion by 2025

10 Anti-Graffiti Coatings Market to

Witness a CAGR of 4% through
2029; Finds PMR Study

12 New Advances in UV-Curable

Soft-Touch Coatings

16 Haptic Coatings

2 | Coatings World ­www.coatingsworld.com April 2021

 Editor’s Page FEATURE

Silanes: Used in a Variety of

Coatings Applications

W
hen formulating paint and coatings silanes are used to increase resis-
tance to abrasion as well as increase adhesion, thermal stability and
crosslinking.
Uses for silanes are diverse and include leather treatments, concrete treat-
ments, roof coatings, adhesion promoters, and anti-graffiti coatings.
“One Evolutionary Path of Organofunctional Silanes: AlkoxySilane Functional
Silicones and their Applications” explores how silane properties today are often
better provided by several oligomeric and polymer solutions which can also pro-
vide new properties such as haptic or soft-touch coatings.
“New Advances in UV-Curable Soft-Touch Coatings” explores how soft-touch
or soft-feel coatings are employed to create a variety of haptic effects on plas-
tic, paper and metal substrates. Haptic effects can improve a consumer’s per-
ceived value of the product, and influence them to buy the product over other
similar products.
“Haptic Coatings: A New and Selective 3D Coating Technology” explores a
new and selective additive 3D coating technology developed and implemented for
mass production. Besides attractive visual design opportunities, a strong focus is
on the touch experience of final products. Haptic perceptions can be controlled
by application of selective multi-layer 3D textures, by the shape and thickness of
these 3D textures, and by the coating formulation itself. A key market for these
types of coatings are textiles for the sporting goods market.
This book also contains market data on the concrete surface treatment chemi-
cals market and anti-graffiti coatings market.

[email protected]

April 2021 ­www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 3

FEATURE

One Evolutionary Path of Organofunctional Silanes:

AlkoxySilane Functional
Silicones and their Applications
1
Tom-Seung Cheung, 2Mike Gunther, 3Bob Ruckle
Siltech Corporation
Toronto, ON Canada
1
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

difunctional dimethyl silanes are reacted of film forming emulsions are applied to

F
or many decades now, organofunc- with each other in this way to manufac- a white cotton fabric swatch, cured and
tional silanes have been used as ture silicones. subjected to stain testing with mustard,
surface treatments, adhesion pro- Research in the ‘90s focused on in- oil and vinegar dressing, and red wine.
moters, dispersants or for cross linking creasingly more complex R2 groups which An average rating (1-10 best) is shown in
in condensation cured systems. These quite often performed great in the lab but the chart.
monomeric materials are generically rep- were not always cost-effective. In many Two experimental emulsions, labeled
resented by (R1O)3Si-R2. The R1 alkoxy cases, the improved properties could be with BQ series names, include fluorosili-
groups are often methyl but ethyl, propyl, achieved with high levels of standard or- cone for added stain resistance. All of the
and other alcohols are used and have the ganofunctional silanes at less cost. film formers shown as yellow bars pro-
effects of slowing down the reaction and In this paper, we describe a simple vide substantial protection relative to the
liberating less toxic alcohols. direction that these silanes have evolved untreated control.
The R2 group is varied quite a bit in over the years. The trialkoxy silane In a second set of experiments, these
more. Alkyl groups such as methyl or moieties are directly appended to silicone film forming emulsions were upgraded
octyl are commonly used as surface treat- polymers forming a chemical chimera of with 7% of Silmer TMS Di-10 shown in
ments providing water repellency or parti- both species. the blue set of bars. The stain resistance is
cle dispersion. Water soluble groups such even further improved in this event. We
as polyalkyleneoxide provide sheeting or Silane modified polymers have seen this effect of improved stain
particle dispersion in aqueous systems. This conceptually simple evolution of resistance from film formers further en-
Often R2 is reactive with all of the the trialkoxy silane monomer evolved hanced by Silmer TMS addition on alumi-
reactive functionalities represented from from attaching silane monomers to num, paper, leather and fiberglass surfaces.
amine to NCO. These dual reactive mate- silicone polymers. These Silmer® TMS The improved stain repellency is
rials are used to bond both with a surface branded polymers are available with believed to come from the hydropho-
and with an organic resin, for example in linear di-functional or pendant multi- bicity. We have not evaluated oleopho-
an adhesive to provide improved adhe- functional architectures. bicity in most cases, but have reported
sion. Also, these can be reacted first with We have done a significant amount of enhanced stain protection from anchored
a resin setting it up for a secondary cure application work with these polymersi. silicones before ii.
when dried which gives improved proper- In a typical set of data (Chart 1), a series Contact angles (Chart 2) of a series of
ties such as tear strength, adhesion, im-
pact resistance, etc.
In nearly all cases, trialkoxy silanes
first undergo an hydrolysis step forming
organofunctional silanols which then un-
dergo a condensation reaction with OH
or similar groups on the surface, resin, or
even another silane silanol group. In fact,

4 | Coatings World ­www.coatingsworld.com April 2021

 One Evolutionary Path of Organofunctional Silanes: AlkoxySilane Functional Silicones
FEATURE
and their Applications

CHART 1. Stain Resistance on Cotton

CHART 2. Contact angles on glass treated with linear Silmer TMS

linear Silmer® TMS types on glass are shown against untreated Finally, in Chart 4 we show water uptake of treated con-
glass and IDD treated glass. In general, the linear difunctional crete tiles which have been immersed. The Silmer TMS Di-50
materials with highest values of x give the most impact on con- and C-2053, a partially hydrolyzed version of TMS Di-10, show
tact angle and stain repellency. We see similar trends on alumi- excellent performance. Pre-hydrolyzing these materials often
num, fiberglass and paper. shows an enhancement of properties.
We have also shown these products to be effective in concrete
treatments to minimize water pickup. Chart 3 shows a series of Adhesion Promotion
commercial and experimental Silmer® TMS products evaluated for Regarding adhesion promotion, the accepted paradigm pre-
this purpose. The results are compared to no treatment and treat- dicts that the polymeric silane containing materials would
ment with a basic film forming emulsion, Siltech E-2150. In this not be as effective at adhesion promotion as a monomeric
case, two pendant high MW materials show the best performance trialkoxysilane. However, we find that using these polymers
and all are superior to the controls. The experimental TMSF Di- with monomeric silanes can show a synergistic improvement
H1 structure has fluoroalkyl groups on the backbone yet we can in adhesion. In this use lower MW TMS types such as Silmer
achieve the same performance without fluorine by using TMS C7. TMS Di-10 are more effective.

April 2021 ­www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 5

 One Evolutionary Path of Organofunctional Silanes: AlkoxySilane Functional Silicones
FEATURE
and their Applications

CHART 3. Water pickup on Silmer TMS treated concrete tiles shown by rating (1-10 best)

CHART 4. Water pickup on treated concrete tiles

In Table 1, we evaluate two commercial in a commercial silicone sealant. The Resin Modification
silicone sealants with and without Silmer Silmer TMS Di-10 polymer is blended Modifying resins to enhance performance
TMS and other promoters. One of two with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane in is well known with silane monomers.
different catalysts are used. These blends 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2 ratios or blended with This application also works with the
are added at 2% loading and adhesion the triethoxy analogue (1:1). The me- Silmer TMS product. We have reported
to PVC is reported as a rating 1-10 best. thoxy silane did not need catalysis, but the effect of these materials on resins
We find that we need an aminotrialkoxy the ethoxy version was catalyzed with elsewhere iii. In that work, we showed
silane or an aminosilicone (Silamine® D2 several different catalysts. These blends Silmer TMS materials interacted with
EDA or Silmer® NH Di-8) with the Silmer are added to a commercial condensa- OH groups on a UV cured resin improv-
TMS Di-10 additive to see substantial ad- tion cured silicone sealant at 5% load- ing tear strength flexibility and hardness.
hesion promotion. The very nucleophilic ing and adhesion to PVC is reported In the interest of space, we will not fur-
and basic primary amine seems critical to as a rating 1-10 best. The improved ther elaborate on that application herein.
improving adhesion in these somewhat performance with higher blend ratios of
unique conditions. Silmer TMS Di-10 over the silane im- Conclusions
Table 2 shows adhesion promotion plies the polymer is improving adhesion. Traditional trialkoxy silanes are highly

6 | Coatings World ­www.coatingsworld.com April 2021

 One Evolutionary Path of Organofunctional Silanes: AlkoxySilane Functional Silicones
FEATURE
and their Applications

TABLE 1. Various reactive silicones post added to commercial silicone sealants

Sealant Additive A (1%) Additive B (1%) Catalyst Rating 10 (best)

Commercial Sealant A NaCure 4000 0

Commercial Sealant B DBTDL 0

Commercial Sealant A TMS Di-10 NaCure 4000 1

Commercial Sealant A C-2053 NaCure 4000 1

Commercial Sealant A TMS Di-8 NaCure 4000 2

Commercial Sealant A NCO Di-10 NaCure 4000 2

Commercial Sealant A NCO Di-10 DBTDL 2

Commercial Sealant A TMS Di-0 NaCure 4000 3

Commercial Sealant B TMS Di-10 Eugenol DBTDL 3

Commercial Sealant A Silmer NH Di-8 DBTDL 3
Commercial Sealant A Silmer NH Di-8 DBTDL 3
Commercial Sealant A Silmer NH Di-8 NaCure 4000 4
Commercial Sealant B TMS Di-0 Silamine D2 EDA NaCure 4000 5
Commercial Sealant A Silamine D2 EDA NaCure 4000 5
Commercial Sealant A Silamine D2 EDA DBTDL 6
Commercial Sealant A TMD Di-10 DBTDL 7

Commercial Sealant A TMS Di-0 DBTDL 7

Commercial Sealant B TMS Di-10 Silamine D2 EDA DBTDL 7.5

TABLE 2. Adhesion of silicone sealant enhanced with Silmer TMS Di-10 and aminopropyl effective and useful products. What we
silanes blends. have shown is that the silicone bound
trialkoxy silanes are useful with reac-
Rating
Additive A Additive B Ratio A:B tive silicone polymers, enhancing the
1-10 best
dried film properties of those polymers.
2:1 10
aminopropyltrimethoxysilane Increased contact angle, stain resistance,
1:1 7 and water resistance have all been dem-
(no cat)
1:2 7 onstrated on paper, leather, concrete and
aluminum surfaces.
aminopropyltriethoxysilane
1:1 9 The silicone network improves the hap-
(K-Kat 675)
tic properties of the final system.
Silmer TMS type silicone polymers
TMS type X=10 aminopropyltriethoxysilane
1:1 10 with trialkoxy groups are very unique
(K-Kat 651)
and offer enhancement of many proper-
ties when used alone or with other con-
aminopropyltriethoxysilane
1:1 10 densation reactive resins. They can be
(K-Kat 678)
used alone or with traditional silanes to
enhance adhesion promotion.
aminopropyltriethoxysilane
1:1 10 Further details and experiments are
(K-Kat 670)
available upon request. CW

i. Steve Wilkowski et.al. Reactive Siloxane Emulsions in Waterborne Coatings, Proceeding of the Waterborne Symposium, 2018, University of
Southern Mississippi.
ii. Bob Ruckle et.al. Fluoro-Free Anti-Graffiti Properties from A Novel OrganoSilicone, European Coatings Show 2017, Vincentz press.
iii. Bob Ruckle et.al. Novel Silicone Materials Provide A Secondary Cure for Energy-Cured Silicone Acrylates Radtech Europe 2019.

April 2021 ­www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 7

GMI: Concrete Surface Treatment
Chemicals Market Size Worth
$15 Billion by 2025

T
he concrete surface treatment Curing compounds in the concrete treatment chemicals market which will
chemicals market size will likely surface treatment chemicals market are hold a share of more than 25 percent of
surpass USD $15 billion by 2025, likely to gain at a growth rate of over 6.5 the total industry by the end of the study
according to a new research report by percent in the study period. The product period. The products are used both dur-
Global Market Insights, Inc. is used for providing optimal curing when ing new construction and repair activities,
Escalating growth in the global popu- protection from the solar heat is desired. and the product demand from this sector
lation is likely to be a key growth driver It is majorly used for applications on hor- would substantially increase in the future.
in the concrete surface treatment chemi- izontal surfaces such as streets, highways, Industrial development in emerging mar-
cals market. Asia Pacific region is the curb paving, airports, runways, etc. It is kets is one of the major reasons behind the
major reason behind the increased rate of mostly applied through spraying proce- growth of this sector in the study period.
population growth. dure. After spraying, it forms a thin layer Europe is one of the significant re-
The global population has risen from on the surface to block water loss and gions contributing to the growth of
6.1 billion in 2000 to 7.6 billion in 2018. results in accurate curing of the surface. the concrete surface treatment chemi-
Out of this, China holds an 18.4 percent The industrial sector is an important cals market. Population in Europe has
share, followed by India accounting for end-user segment in the concrete surface been increasing in recent years and has
17.7 percent. Increasing population and
rising urbanization are some factors driv-
ing the construction industry in the emerg-
ing nations. This, in turn, would boost the
demand for various concrete surface treat-
ment chemicals over the study period.
Another growth enabler of concrete
surface treatment chemicals market is the
rising demand for construction chemicals.
Construction chemicals help in improv-
ing the performance of the structures, are
more economical, ease the installation
procedures, augment the chemical and
physical characteristics of the structures
and make the structures more resistant to
adverse weather conditions. These ben-
efits will propel the market, especially in
the developing regions.

8 | Coatings World ­www.coatingsworld.com April 2021

 GMI: Concrete Surface Treatment Chemicals Market Size Worth $15 Billion by 2025 FEATURE

reached 742 million in 2018 from 727

million in 2000. Increasing immigrants,
urbanization and improved living stan-
dards of people will increase the prod-
uct demand in the construction market.
Rising infrastructural projects and con-
struction activities in this region will, in
turn, boost the market. The construction
industry of the region employs more
than 18 million people and contributes
approximately nine percent to the re-
gional GDP. Hence, developments in this
sector would positively impact the mar-
ket in the forecast period.
Developments in the Asia Pacific con-
struction industry would be the major chemicals market is categorized, based on overall concrete surface treatment chemi-
growth driver for the concrete surface the product, as curing compounds, mold cals market in 2018. Curing compounds
treatment chemicals market. The global release agents, sealants and others. Mold are significantly used in this end-user
construction sector is expected to expand release agents occupy the largest market market to provide water retention to the
in the next decade to a nominal value of share in the global industry and are likely surface exposed to sunlight. Municipal
more than USD $6 trillion. Asia Pacific to grow by a CAGR of more than seven includes bridges, road construction and
held a significant share of this value and percent in the forecast timeframe. Mold other civil structures. This segment is
this share will grow in the coming years. release agents help in avoiding the adhe- likely to grow at a CAGR of about six
This would in turn increase concrete sion of freshly placed cement to a form- percent in the coming years. Progress in
surface treatment chemicals demand. ing surface. Water-based mold release the emerging construction market will
Increasing urbanization, growing popula- agents would gain greater importance in expand this segment’s growth during the
tion in China & India, cheap workforce, the coming years due to its environmental forecast period.
expanding economic growth are some of benefits. Other functions of mold release The worldwide concrete surface treat-
the factor responsible for the growth in agents include minimizing the occurrence ment chemicals market was dominated
the Asia Pacific construction market. of blowholes, providing a better surface by the Asia Pacific region, which account-
China plays a major role in the mar- finish along with minimum loss of water ed for more than half of the market share
ket. The country’s construction industry from the cement. in 2018. High production capacity and
achieved 17 percent growth in market Sealants held a considerable share in rising demand from regions like China,
value in 2016. With both public and the market in 2018. The product is major- India, Japan, and South Korea has re-
private investment in infrastructure ris- ly used in the residential and commercial sulted in the region’s dominant position
ing in the country, China will continue end-user industries to seal cracks in floors in the market. The product is extensively
to play a major role in the market in the and walls and for protection against wa- used in the construction industry which
future. Changing regulatory framework ter, moisture and dust. Developments in has been booming in the emerging econo-
has also helped in driving the market. the global construction industry coupled mies in the past years. Rising population,
For instance, Smart City Mission and with a growing population in the devel- economic growth and improving govern-
the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and oping regions will drive this segment’s ment expenditure on infrastructural de-
Urban Transformation (AMRUT) by the growth in the coming years. velopments are some of the factors for the
Indian government, relaxation of real es- Based on end-user, the market is seg- high CAGR growth in the region.
tate regulations by China, etc. are some mented into residential, commercial, in- Another region occupying a sig-
examples which would lead to increased dustrial and municipal. The commercial is nificant share in the market is North
construction activities in the region, in the largest end-user section which is likely America. Even though the construction
turn escalating concrete surface treat- to gain by more than six percent CAGR market in the region is nearly mature,
ment chemicals demand in the forecast during the forecast timeframe. Extensive presence of a large number of product
period. Limited use of certain products in usage of the product by the commercial manufacturers in the region has helped
developing regions due to the abundance end-users like office buildings, retail out- the company to maintain its position.
of other resources and use of harmful raw lets, garages, hospitals, institutions, etc. As the product is used for repair and re-
materials in the product are some factors for repairing and maintaining the quality plenishment, its demand would increase
which could limit the growth industry in of the concrete will drive its growth. in the forecast timeframe. The region is
the coming years. Municipal end-user category held a likely to exhibit a CAGR of more than
The concrete surface treatment share of approximately 20 percent of the 6% in the study period. CW

April 2021 ­www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 9

FEATURE Anti-Graffiti Coatings Market to Witness a CAGR of 4% through 2029; Finds PMR Study

Anti-Graffiti Coatings
Market to Witness a
CAGR of 4% through
2029; Finds PMR
Study

Manufacturers likely to witness steady growth in the U.S. and Europe.

A
ccording to the insights from a report by Persistence Vandalism to Drive the Growth of the Global Anti-Graffiti
Market Research, the anti-graffiti coatings market is Coatings Market.
expected to witness steady growth over the forecast The subject of graffiti still remains as a controversial topic
period 2019 to 2029 owing to the rising awareness regarding as it is also a major form of vandalism besides being a source
special-purpose coatings in developed countries. The market is of statement and self-expression. Over the past years, graffiti
expected to witness significant growth with a CAGR of over art has been adopted as a prominent source of expression by
4% through 2029. vandals across various geographies. Consequently, the demand
for anti-graffiti coatings has increased, and this is expected to
Manufacturers Likely to Witness Steady drive the growth of the global anti-graffiti coatings market.
Growth in the U.S. and Europe The global anti-graffiti coatings market has been segmented
The emergence of anti-graffiti coatings as a promising solution on the basis of material used for the production of anti-graffiti
for undesired graffiti art over the walls of residential, institu- coatings, their different types on the basis of durability and
tional, and commercial buildings has resulted in a drastic in- end-uses, as well as seven prominent regions of the world.
crease in the sales in developed regions such as North America • By material, the global anti-graffiti coatings market is ex-
and Europe. The total costs of investments in graffiti clean- pected to witness prominent sales from segments such as sili-
ing and removal in these regions has grown significantly over cone and polyurethane.
the past couple of years. For instance, annual graffiti cleaning • By type, the global anti-graffiti coatings market is ex-
costs in Los Angeles are around US$ 140 Mn. In the countries pected to witness lucrative growth from the permanent type of
of Europe, such as Germany and the UK, the annual costs of anti-graffiti coatings. This is majorly driven by the demand for
graffiti cleaning are over US$ 700 Mn and US$ 1.5 Bn respec- durable and long-lasting coatings from consumers.
tively. This has resulted in high demand for cost-effective and • By end use, it is expected that the significant consumption
long-lasting anti-graffiti coatings in the North America and of anti-graffiti coatings would be from the commercial and in-
Europe regions. stitutional infrastructure. However, the growing applications
As a result, the North America and Europe anti-graffiti of anti-graffiti coatings for the protection of automotive and
coatings markets are expected to grow at lucrative CAGR of transportation assets is expected to project a lucrative growth
over 4.5% over the forecast period 2019 to 2029. to the transportation end-use sector of the anti-graffiti coat-
Increasing Number of Actions against the Acts of ings market. CW

10 | Coatings World ­www.coatingsworld.com April 2021

FEATURE New Advances in UV-Curable Soft-Touch Coatings

New Advances in UV-Curable

Soft-Touch Coatings
Lisa Spagnola, Jeffrey Klang, Manjuli Gupta, Sartomer, Americas;
Xavier Drujon, Sartomer, Europe

S
oft-touch or soft-feel coatings are we found atomic-force microscopy with polyols. This process creates hard
employed to create a variety of hap- (AFM) measurements can distinguish regions from the isocyanates distributed
tic effects on plastic, paper and met- between feel types when the coating in softer regions created by the polyols,
al substrates. Haptic effects can improve chemistry was different,4 additional test- as can be seen in the idealized struc-
a consumer’s perceived value of the prod- ing showed that as the chemistry became ture in Figure 1. While these two-part
uct, and influence them to buy the prod- more similar, the relationship between systems have excellent feel properties,
uct over other similar products. In fact adhesion force and feel no longer held. two-part urethane coatings have dis-
a recent study by California Polytechnic In addition, AFM cannot distinguish the advantages such as pot life limitations,
State University showed not only did cus- quality of the feel. Thus, for our subse- long cure times, and hazards of isocya-
tomers prefer cosmetics packaged in a quent studies we used trained observ- nate handling. To address these issues as
container with a soft touch coating versus ers to judge the quality and type of the well as to improve durability, formula-
a traditional coating, they were willing to feel effects. tors and product designers look increas-
pay a 5% price premium.1 Thus ingly toward UV-cured soft-feel
it is no wonder interest in soft- coatings.
touch coatings has increased in In a previous study, in-
recent years. While the study spired by two-part isocyanate
by California Polytechnic State systems, we demonstrated our
University focused on cosmetic ability to create a UV-curable
packaging, soft-touch coatings soft-touch coating with good
span a variety of markets includ- feel and improved mar, abra-
ing automotive interiors, small sion, stain, and chemical
electronics, and appliances. resistance compared to con-
With the broad range of mar- ventional two-part urethane
kets comes the need for a broad coatings.4 The system created
range of feel types. In general, a had a silky feel. Achieving soft-
feel type is described in terms of touch coatings of various feel
things known to be soft, such as types is necessary to fit the re-
rubber, velvet, peach skin, rose quirements of a wide range of
petals, silk, leather, suede, etc. applications and products. This
Not only are these terms highly article details the development
subjective, the perceived feel of a range of custom designed
varies from person to person. A UV-curable soft touch products
coating that one observer might Figure 1: Idealized two-part soft-touch coating structure. that have tailorable feel and
describe as velvety, another improved properties over two-
may find silky. Studies have shown that Since consumer products are exposed part urethane coatings.
factors such as age2 and sex3 affect how to repeated wear and contaminants
feel is perceived. In a previous lab study throughout their life cycle, soft feel coat- Experimental
we chose observers of various age, sex, ings must also be durable. Balancing Table 1 shows a base soft-touch coating
and training.4 soft feel with wear resistance is an ad- formulation. Silica was added as both a
Although most could recognize a soft ditional challenge. Wear resistance for surface additive to impart soft feel and
coating, their perception of which was soft feel coatings is typically created by as a matting agent. The acrylate resin
the most pleasing varied widely. While crosslinking multifunctional isocyanates was dissolved in solvent to reduce the

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 New Advances in UV-Curable Soft-Touch Coatings FEATURE

Results And Discussion

In our initial screening, we used di-
functional urethane acrylate oligomers
(UA) to mimic the softer polyol regions
in the traditional two-part systems and
trifunctional acrylate crosslinkers (M)
for the harder isocyanate regions.4 We
Table 1: Soft-touch coating base formulation. found that UA5:M1 at 60:40 created
a good silky feel with improved dura-
bility over the conventional two-part
urethane system tested. By reducing the
amount of crosslinker, we were able to
achieve a velvety feel, but the durabil-
ity of the coating decreased significantly
(Table 2). Since a reduction of cross-
Table 2: Adjusting feel type with crosslinker concentration. linker alone cannot be used to change
the feel type while maintaining durabil-
ity, we set out to design new urethane
acrylates and crosslinkers.
The new difunctional urethane ac-
rylates UA6 and UA7 were evaluated
in the same way as UA5 by varying the
concentration of crosslinker M1 (Figure
2). While UA6 and UA7 both create a
rubbery coating with 10% crosslinker
on resin, UA6 has several advantages
over UA7. First, we achieve a feel with
more grip (velvety) using UA6 without
the need to decrease the crosslinker as
much. The ability to use higher levels of
crosslinker is advantageous as it allows
for higher crosslink density and better
coating durability. In addition, UA6 had
a better overall feel quality than blends
with UA7 (not shown in figures). While
we were able to achieve a rubbery feel
at 90% urethane oligomer UA6 and
10% crosslinker (M1), the films did not
Figure 2: Properties of UA6 and UA7 as a function of crosslinker content. have the desired durability. When we in-
creased the level of crosslinker (M1) to
17.5%, we were able to achieve a rub-
viscosity and to provide enough shrink- and adhesion. bery coating with improved properties
age to allow for the migration of silica Experienced observers rated the feel over the previous rubbery coating that
to the film’s surface, which is necessary of the panels by type and quality. We contained 10% crosslinker (Figure 3).
to reduce friction and impart a soft feel.5 divided the range of observed feel into In our second approach we attempted
After applying the formulations, the three regions: rubbery, velvety, and silky. to create a soft touch coating with an ex-
panels were dried for 15 minutes at 60 Rubbery describes a coating close to rub- isting trifunctional acrylate crosslinker
°C to remove the solvent. The coatings ber, which has more grip (less slip) than and low functional acrylate monomers
were then cured with two mercury arc a silky (silk-like feel) coating. A velvety (AM) as the soft connecting segments in-
lamps at 400 W/in and a belt speed of 50 coating has a slip/grip feel between that stead of difunctional urethane acrylates.
fpm resulting in a final film thickness of of rubbery and silky. The observers also Formulations with the existing cross-
2 mils. The panels were allowed to stand rated the quality of the soft touch on a linkers and monomer (AM1) did not
overnight before testing for abrasion, scale of one to five, with one being a poor achieve the desired combination of feel
solvent, food stain, sunscreen, and in- match and five being an exact match to and properties (Table 3). Formulating
sect-repellent resistance, pencil hardness, the coating’s respective feel type. newly designed crosslinker, M6, with

April 2021 ­www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 13

FEATURE New Advances in UV-Curable Soft-Touch Coatings

acrylate monomer, AM1, at 60:40 cross-

linker to acrylate monomer, resulted in
both good feel and good durability, as
seen in Table 4, formulation 53. After
varying the monomer formulated with
M6 to screen for improved feel and du-
rability, we found M6 with AM5 had
the best velvety feel of all our previously
tested formulations (Table 4) along with
good durability.

Conclusions
Newly designed oligomer UA6 and
crosslinker M6 allow us to create UV-
curable soft-feel coatings with a range
of haptic sensations (Figure 4). These
new products show improved durabil-
ity over the industry standard two-part
urethane coating tested and exhibit little
to no decrease in soft-touch feel quality.
Figure 3: Properties of UA6 as a function of crosslinker content. In addition to enhanced durability, the
UV-curable systems have infinite pot life,
short cure times and no free isocyanate.
Current work focuses on 100% UV-
curable and waterborne UV-PUD to pro-
vide low-VOC options to formulators
and convertors. CW
Table 3: Properties for select formulations for crosslinkers with acrylate monomer.
References
1. Keif, M.; Twomey, C.; Stoneman,
A. Consumer Perception of Tactile
Packaging: A
Research Study on Preferences of Soft
Touch and Hi Rise Coatings in Cosmetic
Packaging. J. Appl. Packaging Res. 2015,
7, 1, 59-72.
2. May, A.C.; Stewart, J.L.; Tapert,
Table 4: Properties for new crosslinker M6 with acrylate monomers.
S.F.; Paulus, M.P. The effect of age on neu-
ral processing of pleasant soft touch stim-
uli. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
2014, 8, 52.
3. Essick, G. K.; McGlone, F.; Dancer,
C.; Fabricant, D.; Ragin, Y.; Phillips, N.;
Jones, T.; Guest, S. Quantitative assess-
ment of pleasant touch. Neurosciences
and Biobehavioral Reviews 2010, 34,
192-203.
4. Drujon, X.; Spagnola, L.; Moeller
G. Most Recent Developments in UV-
Curable Soft-Touch Coatings. UV and EB
Technology 2016, 4, 18.
5. Garber, A.; Seggern, E. Tougher tex-
ture: Improving the performance of hap-
tic coatings for graphic arts. Eur. Polym.
Figure 4: Properties of best UV-curable soft touch formulations.
J. 2015, 66, 57-66.

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FEATURE Haptic Coatings

Haptic Coatings
A New and Selective 3D Coating Technology

Thomas W. Schmidt, Xing-Sheng Jiang, and Li Chuan Lillian Tseng

Abstract industry. The haptic coatings are very chain, full accountability on quality and
A new and selective additive 3D coating robust and only use safe and environ- more flexibility in the supply chain.
technology was developed and imple- mentally friendly chemistry. They fulfill
mented for mass production. Besides all mechanical requirements for applica- Introduction
attractive visual design opportunities, a tion on sneakers and sports apparel. In The traditional manufacturing of ath-
strong focus is on the touch experience addition, full compliance to the strict- letic footwear is a multi-step labor in-
of final products. Haptic perceptions can est restricted substances list (RSL) and tensive process. The upper materials
be controlled by application of selective manufacturing restricted substances list of a sneaker are usually composed of
multi-layer 3D textures, by the shape (MRSL) can be achieved. many different materials. The purchase
and thickness of these 3D textures, and With the selective additive coating ap- of all these separate materials from dif-
by the coating formulation itself. The proach, highest material efficiency can be ferent suppliers has to be coordinated
coating formulation can be fine-tuned to achieved. This revolutionary approach carefully to meet delivery deadlines
achieve soft-touch nubuck-like effects, to sneaker manufacturing improves the and quality expectations. In many cases
as well as smooth, slippery, sticky effects sustainability and the environmental minimum quantity orders, logistics, and
or rough sandpaper-like effects. In com- footprint of the supply chain for sports shipment issues complicate the situa-
bination with attractive colors such as footwear and garments. Cutting waste tion. For a TIER-1 shoe factory, this can
metallics, color shifting or thermochro- does not exist and material is only ap- be a troublesome and hard to control
mic colors and finishes with controlled plied where it is needed. Huafeng, as a process. In addition, the various materi-
matte or glossy surfaces, a huge freedom T2 supplier, moved into a new business als have to be attached to each other.
of design is allowed. model of component manufacturing Traditionally, this is done by stitching
Today, haptic coatings are applied on with haptic coatings. Component manu- operations, and in some cases by hot
textile substrates for the sporting goods facturing allows a lean manufacturing melt lamination processes. In any case,

Figure 1. Schematic cross section of a haptic coating system on sandwich mesh.

16 | Coatings World ­www.coatingsworld.com April 2021

 Haptic Coatings FEATURE

this creates a lot of manual labor and

cost. Most materials are delivered as
rolls and need to be cut to size before
attachment. This creates cutting loss
and cutting waste that is difficult to re-
cycle. Haptic, the new selective additive
3D coating technology, addresses all
these above mentioned disadvantages
of traditional footwear manufactur-
ing and offers solutions for better de-
sign, more sustainability and less labor
cost.1 Haptic was introduced to the
market in early 2015 and since then has
shown rapid growth and success.
Figure 2. Microscopic cross section of a haptic coating.

Haptic Technology and

Advantages
Chemistry and Application Technology modified for various touch perceptions. Manufacturing Advantages
Haptic is usually applied on textile sub- Depending on the coating formulation, of Haptic 3D Coatings
strates based on synthetic fibers. For soft touch, micro texture, rough texture Along with the highly durable quality
athletic footwear, polyester or polyes- and sandpaper effects can be achieved. of haptic coatings, they offer many ad-
ter/nylon sandwich mesh is usually the By adding more layers of base coat on vantages during the design and manu-
best substrate material. Haptic chemis- top of the first color coat, a second facturing process, and allow lean and
try is based on high-solids water-based level of height can be achieved. Overall efficient supply chains. With haptic
polyurethane dispersions (PUDs).2 design can create uncoated areas and technology, Huafeng as a typical TIER-2
Curing at room temperature is achieved hole-like structures in the basecoat and textile supplier could, for the first time,
by mixing isocyanate hardeners into the topcoat, allowing the observers to see move into a component supply business
formulation shortly before application through down to the substrate or down model. Instead of rolls of textile materi-
with a pot life of 2 – 4 h. The basic idea to the first color coat. In that way, al, now ready-to-assemble, upper com-
of haptic coatings is to apply a very multi-level and multi-color designs can ponents are supplied to TIER-1 shoe
thick 3D coating in specific areas of the be achieved, something never seen be- factories. This business model creates
substrate while other areas stay uncoat- fore on a sneaker. advantages as now Huafeng takes full
ed and provide full textile functional- Quality athletic footwear has many accountability for quality and delivery,
ity such as breathability and flexibility. harsh requirements. Shoes face an in- and relaxes the TIER-1 logistics chal-
High coating thickness can be achieved tensive wear process, and coating and lenge sourcing various materials from
by high-solid formulations (up to 75% mesh need to be prepared to perform. various suppliers. For the sports brand,
solids), high- viscosity thixotropic base Haptic coatings are robust due to it also becomes easy to manage the sup-
coats, and a multi-layer application sim- chemical crosslinking and high coating ply chains as less TIER-2 suppliers are
ilar to digital 3D printing technologies thickness. In addition, the coatings ad- involved. Most importantly, lead time
that have created huge attention in the here very well to the synthetic fibers not can be significantly shortened and clear
market recently. However, haptic today only because of chemical compatibility responsibilities for quality are defined
is not applied by digital means but by but also because of physical penetra- (Figure 3).
screen printing technology. Both manu- tion into the knitted structures of the Screen printing technology can be
al and automatic screen printing can be fabrics. Haptic coatings can even fill automated quite easily compared to
used. Special automatic screen printing up small holes in the sandwich mesh stitching operations. By applying hap-
machines were developed to ensure high to fully cover the substrate without tic coatings for upper design, there is
precision printing in a multi-layer ap- telegraphic effects and provide smooth no need for joining other materials on
proach. Figure 1 shows a typical multi- surfaces. Figure 2 shows a microscopic top of the base mesh by a sewing op-
layer haptic coating consisting of two picture of a cross section. eration. This results in very efficient
main coating formulations, i.e., a base It can be seen that the base coat layer and less labor intensive production of
coat that provides most of the coating penetrates deep into the fabric material footwear uppers.
thickness and a top coat that provides and physically hooks up to the fiber
color, gloss, and touch perception. structure resulting in exceptional strong
The top/surface coat will not only bonding and durable products.
provide color and gloss but can also be

April 2021 ­www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 17

FEATURE Haptic Coatings

BRAND

Speed
Quality
Efficiency

Huafeng TIER-1

Figure 3. Manufacturing advantages of haptic footwear uppers.

Sustainability efficiencies can be achieved. selective additive 3D coating approach

Considerations The fully waterborne chemistry allows creative spectacular designs not
Today, sustainability is a must for all guarantees safe and healthy work places seen before in the footwear industry. CW
new developments in the sporting goods and is in full compliance with the goals
industry. Right from the beginning, hap- of ZDHC, an industrywide campaign to References
tic coatings were developed with a clear face out toxic chemicals within the tex- 1. T. W. Schmidt, V. Z. Fang, Haptic – a
goal of offering the best sustainabil- tile supply chains.3 Workers enjoy clean new additive manufacturing technology
ity along with hard fact manufacturing and fresh air without inhaling solvents. for footwear, apparel and accessories
and cost advantages. Two main features This is especially important when oper- applications, Proc. of the 2nd Intl. conf.
lead to high sustainability: haptic is an ating in less developed countries where on Progress in Additive Manufacturing,
additive manufacturing technology, and extraction systems are often not up to Research Publishing, Singapore,
haptic is fully water-based. requirements. Importantly, there is no ISSN:2424-8967::doi:10.3850/2424-
The additive manufacturing ap- fire hazard in the factory and workers 8967_V02-3251, 2016, 97 – 102.
proach allows building up coating do their job in a safe environment. 2. Bayer Research 27, “Magic
thickness step-by-step. During that pro- Materials”, 2014, 28-31. www.re-
cess, the coating material is selectively Conclusions search.bayer.com/insquin.
added at the location where it is needed. Haptic coatings offer a great new op- 3. ZDHC, www.roadmaptozero.com.
There is no cutting waste for disposal portunity for athletic footwear manu-
and coating material loss is very low. facturing. High efficiency at low cost, For more information:
Material loss basically only appears sustainable chemistry and application [email protected],
when colors are changed and screens processes leads to multiple benefits +86 13615934792
are cleaned. Therefore, highest material within the supply chain. In addition the

18 | Coatings World ­www.coatingsworld.com April 2021