Senior Chemist Dr. Andrew Lewis and Senior Scientist Dr. Kyle Price, of Axalta Coating Systems, each presented their developments in polymerization catalysts and micro-scale coating characterization at the 252nd American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 21-25. The ACS National meeting draws researchers and experts in multiple chemistry disciplines from academic and industrial institutions worldwide.

Polymer resins help to achieve desired structural, performance and visual aesthetic appearance properties in liquid and powder coatings. Catalysts are essential for producing many polymer resins that are used in a variety of coatings including automotive coatings.

“Some catalysts are used in very small amounts, such as at a few parts per million (ppm) in polymerization processes,” said Dr. Lewis. “Even low levels of impurities can significantly impact catalyst activity and subsequently coating properties. We developed methods to identify and characterize those impurities. These methods help enable us to optimize catalyst performance to produce better polymers and advanced coatings.”

For many applications, coatings are designed to provide protection and to enhance appearance. One challenge facing the coating industry is to develop better coatings that are more scratch resistant.

“Damage to coatings in the form of scratches or marring results in the deterioration of coating performance and appearance such as loss of gloss,” said Dr. Price. “We developed micro-scale techniques to measure and characterize coating defects, including scratches, more accurately than traditional coating tests. These measurements can help us to better understand the relationship between scratch resistance and other coatings’ properties in order to continue to design advanced coatings for our customers.”

“At Axalta, we uphold our 150-year commitment of producing quality products for our customers by innovating new coating technologies,” said Joanne Hardy, Axalta Global Research and Development Director. “With the emergence of new materials and new processes; coatings are changing and evolving, especially in the transportation industry. The technical developments presented by Dr. Price and Dr. Lewis are examples of Axalta’s commitment and focus on meeting customer needs.”