Coatings World Editor Kerry Pianoforte interviewed Evan Knoblauch – Business Manager Europe & Asia, Keyland Polymer Material Sciences.

CW: Please provide some background information on Keyland Polymer UV Resins.

Knoblauch: Keyland Polymer UV Resins develops and manufactures solid resins for UV curable powder coatings, inks, and other applications. Our solid polyester and epoxy resins cure with high-energy UV (Ultraviolet) or EB (Electron Beam) emitters.

We focus on enabling sustainable, energy-efficient coating technologies by replacing liquid or thermal powder-curing processes with UV curing solutions. Keyland is unique in the market due to our vertical integration.  Our expertise spans polymer chemistry and formulation as well as powder coating development and manufacturing, backed by more than 25 years of experience in UV powder applications.  Keyland Polymer partners with our customers to deliver innovative material solutions that improve productivity, reduce environmental impact, and meet demanding performance requirements across multiple industries.

CW: What is in a UV curable powder coating formulation?

Knoblauch: UV curable powder coatings consist of resin, pigments, additives, fillers, and photo initiators. The resin is the coating’s backbone and provides almost all the performance properties, consisting between 60%-95% of the final coating formulation by weight. Pigments, additives, and fillers provide color, texture, gloss, aesthetic, and other performance improvements in the coating. What sets UV powders apart is that the resin is specifically designed for UV curing.  UV curing requires photo initiators in the formulated powder coating. Photo initiators are specialized chemical compounds that absorb UV energy and generate reactive species, free radicals or ions. Exposure to UV light initiates an immediate chemical crosslinking reaction that instantly cures the coating.

The two primary systems currently available for purchase from Keyland Polymer are: UVP-1300 and UVE-5100. What applications are these resins used for?
Our workhorse resin is the UVP-1300. This unsaturated polyester-methacrylate resin is suitable for a wide range of coated products. UVP-1300 is currently used in UV powder coatings for industrial products, consumer products, building materials, 3D printing/additive manufactured materials, retail/office/healthcare/educational fixtures, and furniture, for both interior and light exterior use.

We also have a UVE-5100 BPA-free epoxy resin. This resin is designed for use in UV powder coatings that require high chemical resistance, such as automotive, industrial piping, electrical components, and racking systems.

We have also developed exterior-grade resins and additive resins to improve the overall performance of UV powders, which we are very excited about.

CW: What are the benefits of using UV cured powder coatings over traditional liquid coatings?

Knoblauch: UV cured powder coatings provide several key advantages over conventional liquid and thermal powder coatings. The combination of lower curing temperatures and immediate UV curing reduces heat consumption, enabling powder coat finishing of heat-sensitive substrates such as wood, composites, and plastics while cutting energy use and operating costs. This also leads to higher processing speed and efficiency, allowing more parts to be completed in less time. UV powder coating systems are also extremely compact compared to other coating systems.

Environmentally, UV curable resins and powder coatings are 100% solid, water- and solvent-free. They contain no VOCs or HAPs and are REACH compliant. UV cured coatings offer excellent durability, including high scratch and chemical resistance, ensuring long-term performance of the coating.

CW: What custom resins do you produce and what are their applications?

Knoblauch: In addition to standard product offerings, Keyland Polymer develops custom UV curable resin systems tailored to specific customer needs and application requirements. This development work is done in our resin lab in Barcelona, Spain.

CW: What are Keyland Polymer’s plans for expansion in the European market?

Knoblauch: Keyland Polymer is active in the European market as a resin supplier to coating manufacturers. We work with our customers to support projects where our expertise is beneficial, either by solving the end customer’s problem or by developing a UV cured powder using a Keyland Polymer resin.  

What sets us apart from other resin suppliers is that we can leverage our powder manufacturing and application knowledge, along with our over 25 years of experience working with UV curable powder coatings. We are focused on educating the market about the performance, cost, and environmental advantages of UV curable resins and powder coatings, while helping companies understand how these solutions can improve efficiency, reduce their carbon footprint, and solve their customers’ problems. This process often begins with the question, “Can this part or product be finished with a UV cured powder coating? Our goal is to say “yes.”