Recently, starting water-based primer and water-based topcoat formulations were applied to steel substrates, with performance properties compared to those of a fully formulated, commercially available industrial maintenance coating system.

The results revealed that the waterborne coatings systems developed using novel Air Products water-based technologies perform as well as or better than their solventborne counterparts in important performance areas—including accelerated weathering, corrosion protection, impact, hardness, chemical resistance, and abrasion resistance.

These outstanding performance results were achieved using a 4:1 anticorrosive primer formulated with Air Products' Anquamine® 456 epoxy curing agent and a liquid epoxy resin, with a topcoat formulation based on the company's novel Adura™ 100 polyol. These high-value-added coatings not only deliver on performance, but do so at a reasonable cost. They are just what you need to meet the demanding performance requirements for industrial coatings in the 21st century.