A novel approach to the preparation of powder coating—Manufacture of polyacrylate powder coatings via one step minisuspension polymerization

A novel method for manufacturing powder coating through one step minisuspension polymerization is described. The conventional production of powder coating includes six steps—synthesizing resins, mixing the raw material, extrusion, cooling, pre-crushing and pulverization. Comparatively, the present method can simplify the complicated processes, reduce equipment and save energy. Before polymerization, the TiO2 particles were treated with a reactive silane coupling agent 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) to obtain enough compatibility with the monomers. The powder coating was directly synthesized through employing one step minisuspension polymerization in the presence of titanium dioxide white particles. The powder coating was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that TiO2 particles and polymer are successfully linked up via MPTMS in the powder particles. The morphology of powder coatings produced via different methods was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The powder coatings obtained from minisuspension polymerization consist of regular spherical morphology particles with narrow particle size distribution. The powder flowability and surface film smoothness were enhanced compared to the pulverization powder coating.