New matte coating development

Challenges

We want to develop a coating agent that can produce a matte finish that matches the trend for designer home appliances...

Mr. U, a research manager at Company C, decided to immediately visit the customer with the sales representative to hear more details.

"Recently, I've heard that there is a trend for home appliances to look not only for functionality, ease of use, and price, but also for design, and that this trend is particularly noticeable among the younger generation. Inspired by the popularity of European manufacturers' subdued, matte-textured home appliances that blend in with the interior, we were asked to develop a coating agent to be used on a new series of high-end model home appliances that are conscious of trends." (Mr. U)

Mr. U has previously developed coating agents for home appliances, but the purpose of using the coating agents was primarily to protect the plastic objects they were made of, rather than for design purposes.

Coatings used on home appliances and car interiors contain fine particles to create a matte finish. By applying the coating and creating unevenness with the fine particles, light is diffused and the finish has a low gloss. The request this time required an even lower gloss effect to create a more subdued texture, so Mr. U thought it might be necessary to search for a new matte agent.

Mr. U thinks about this as he searches for a matte agent.
"There are two types of fine particles for matting: inorganic and organic. Inorganic particles have a high refractive index, which results in a characteristic whitish appearance. We were concerned that the characteristic whitish appearance of inorganic particles would be particularly noticeable with black, a popular color for home appliances, so we decided to choose organic particles this time. Therefore, we decided to start by trying acrylic and acrylic-styrene fine particles that we had previously considered." (U)

However, despite trying various combinations and blending methods of these particles, the desired texture could not be achieved. "Even if it doesn't reach the level of inorganic particles, if there was something with a higher refractive index, I could create a better texture," thought Mr. U.

Furthermore, depending on the combination of organic fine particles and solvent, new issues arise, such as a decrease in the dispersibility of the particles in the solvent. Even after a month and a half since the start of development, they have not yet produced a prototype that can be proposed to customers. Mr. U feels impatient.

Solutions

We have created a coating agent that can create a matte texture using EPOSTAR™!

Mr. U decided to search for new fine particles with a matte finish. After searching the websites of manufacturers of fine particles, he came across a page about a product called EPOSTAR by Nippon Shokubai.

"It was written that the organic particles have a high refractive index of 1.66, and that it has a proven track record as a matting agent, so I thought this was promising and contacted Nippon Shokubai." (Mr. U)

"I was contacted immediately by a sales representative who explained to me that EPOSTAR has a high refractive index due to its benzoguanamine structure, has the highest level of refractive index among organic fine particles, has been widely adopted as a matting agent, and is highly regarded for its high dispersibility." (Mr. U)

Mr. U continues his research into using EPOSTAR, receiving advice from the sales representative on how to choose from the lineup of multiple particle sizes, mixing and dispersion methods, and how to select solvents.

"There were no concerns about the solvent resistance or heat resistance, which we were worried about, and both prototyping and evaluation went smoothly. The deadline for submitting samples to our client was fast approaching, so we were worried about how it would turn out, but there were many variations in particle size, so we were glad that we were able to efficiently select the particles by referring to the results of previous tests." (Mr. U)

The completed prototype had a beautiful finish and seemed to address the concern about dispersibility. Mr. U felt relieved that this would meet the expectations of his client.

Mr. U felt that EPOSTAR was promising, so he immediately reported it to his superiors and got permission to provide samples to clients. He also received information from Nippon Shokubai that it was a product that could be supplied stably, and at the next technical review meeting, Mr. U plans to discuss the arrangements for scaling up to production.

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