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From “oil” to “water”—water-based UV wood coatings are driving the industry’s green transformation.

Release time:

2024-03-30 16:39

From “oil” to “water”—water-based UV wood coatings are driving the industry’s green transformation.
From “oil” to “water”—water-based UV wood coatings are driving the industry’s green transformation.

I. Traditional Wood Coatings Face Challenges

Wood lacquer, a coating specifically designed for wood surfaces, not only protects wood from oxidation, decay, and insect damage but also conceals imperfections in the product, enhancing its aesthetic appeal. With the advancement of the times, the variety and applications of wood lacquer have continued to expand and diversify, making it an indispensable component of modern household items and handicrafts.

China’s cultural history of wood lacquer painting is long and profound, dating back thousands of years. Through continuous practice and exploration, ancient artisans gradually mastered exquisite lacquer techniques and created countless breathtaking wooden lacquer artworks. These masterpieces not only showcase China’s outstanding achievements in the field of wood lacquer but also provide valuable references and insights for our contemporary research and development of wood lacquer technologies.

However, in recent years, traditional wood finishes have been facing numerous challenges. These challenges stem not only from their inherent performance limitations but also from changes in the external environment and rising public demands for environmental protection and health.

Traditional wood lacquers tend to produce strong odors, take a long time to fully evaporate, and contain harmful substances that not only pose a potential threat to human health but also contribute to environmental pollution. Moreover, their long drying times, low construction efficiency, limitations in color and gloss, and suboptimal performance no longer align with the styles and trends of modern home interiors.

II. The Rise of UV Wood Coatings

Water-based UV wood coatings, also known as UV-curable water-based wood coatings, promote cross-linking reactions under ultraviolet light irradiation via photoinitiators, ultimately forming a coating film.

Water-based UV coatings are entirely water-borne and can be diluted with water, allowing them to harness the superior properties of UV coatings while achieving water-based formulation. At the same time, they exhibit the same physical performance characteristics as oil-based UV coatings. All that’s required is to add a dehydration process on top of the original UV coating formulation. From application to complete drying and film curing, the process takes only about 3–4 minutes, enabling rapid, assembly-line production and significantly boosting the efficiency of product coating operations. Moreover, these coatings have a wide range of applications and demonstrate unique advantages across multiple sectors.

1. Excellent environmental performance

Water-based UV coatings use water as a diluent, effectively reducing emissions of harmful substances and making them more environmentally friendly. They align with modern green and eco-friendly lifestyle principles and, in practical use, can significantly minimize health risks to both workers and users, resulting in a lesser impact on both the environment and human health.

2. Fast curing speed and high production efficiency

UV coatings, when exposed to ultraviolet light, can quickly achieve surface drying and curing, thereby improving coating efficiency. Moreover, this coating method also reduces energy consumption, helping companies save costs.

3. Excellent performance

Water-based UV wood coatings offer stable coloration and can impart bright colors and luster to wood products, while also boasting excellent hardness, abrasion resistance, water resistance, and chemical resistance. The coating surface is full and free of orange-peel texture, delivering a high-quality finish for wood products.

4. Wide range of applications

Water-based UV wood coatings can be used not only for furniture finishing but also for surface coating of flooring, roll materials, electronic products, and more. As demand for environmentally friendly, healthy, and high-quality coatings continues to rise, an increasing number of companies are starting to adopt this new type of coating material.

The rise of waterborne UV wood coatings undoubtedly represents a significant transformation in the coatings industry. Combining the dual advantages of waterborne and UV coatings, these products not only meet the demand for environmentally friendly painting but also boast efficient curing and high-quality coating performance. These superior performance characteristics have enabled waterborne UV wood coatings to stand out in the market and win widespread consumer favor.

III. Process Flow for Water-Based UV Coatings

1. Substrate Surface Preparation: First, clean and sand the substrate to ensure its surface is smooth, flat, and free of impurities.

2. Product Coating: Apply the water-based UV primer evenly onto the substrate surface by spraying, ensuring that the coating thickness is uniform and consistent.

3. Controlling Dehydration: After coating is completed, since water-based UV coatings use water as a diluent, the coating film will contain a significant amount of moisture. It is essential to effectively remove this moisture to enhance the quality and performance of the coating film. This can be achieved by adjusting environmental temperature, humidity, and ventilation conditions, and employing a gradient dehydration method to gradually eliminate moisture from the coating film.

4. UV Curing: The coating is cured by irradiation with a UV lamp, forming a strong and abrasion-resistant coating.

5. Post-processing: The product undergoes processes such as grinding and polishing to achieve a smoother, more uniform coating effect.

6. Finished-product inspection: Perform quality inspections on the coated film to ensure that it meets the required standards and is free from defects such as blemishes and bubbles.

IV. Issues in the Production of Waterborne UV Wood Coatings

Today, waterborne UV wood coatings have become widely used in wood products. Indeed, waterborne UV coatings have reduced pollution generated during the manufacturing process and enhanced both the environmental friendliness and aesthetic appeal of the products. However, it must be acknowledged that the production process using waterborne UV coatings still faces the following challenges:

1. Long production path: Since water-based paints contain a large amount of water, the coating requires more time for dehydration. Therefore, the flow production line needs to be equipped with a longer path to ensure thorough drying.

2. High requirements for the production environment: Due to long paths and extended drying times, workpieces are likely to become contaminated on the production line, affecting both their performance and appearance. Therefore, a clean, contamination-free drying environment is essential—ideally, a dust-free workshop would be best.

3. Relatively lower hardness and wear resistance: Although water-based UV wood coatings can develop a certain degree of hardness and wear resistance after curing, their performance may be slightly inferior compared to some solvent-based UV wood coatings. This limitation restricts the application of water-based UV wood coatings in certain scenarios.

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