Wacker at the ECS: Silicone resin hardener for epoxy-polysiloxane topcoats

Epoxy-polysiloxane top coats ensure glossy metal surfaces and provide lasting protection against wind and weather. The choice of the right hardener plays a decisive role here. With Silres HP 2000 LV, Wacker Chemie presents an improved version of its successful hardener system for such coatings. The new product has a significantly reduced content of volatile compounds, which is also indicated by the name suffix "LV" ("low volatile"). It enables the formulation of metal coatings that are safer to process and apply. Wacker is presenting the new coating raw material for the first time at this year's European Coatings Show. Silres HP 2000 LV has the same high-quality properties as its predecessor and can therefore also be used in existing formulations. The silicone resin hardener enables the formulation of isocyanate-free metal coatings that retain their gloss even after years of exposure to sunlight and weathering. Such products offer excellent corrosion protection, especially in combination with suitable primers, for example for ships, bridges and industrial plants. Top coats based on Silres HP 2000 LV can also be used in two-coat paint systems, which saves costs compared to a three-coat paint system.

In addition to its high efficiency, the new silicone resin hardener has further advantages. Compared to its predecessor, the product has significantly fewer volatile compounds. The content of cyclic methylsiloxanes and methoxymethylsilanes is now less than 0.1 percent. This eliminates the labeling requirements that were previously necessary for such hardeners and which limited their possible applications. The improved product purity also benefits occupational safety, which in turn benefits paint producers and paint processors. With the new hardener, Wacker is supporting customers who are increasingly focusing on sustainability in the coatings industry. Silres HP 2000 LV can be used to formulate coatings with a high solids content, for example. Such polysiloxane coatings require significantly less solvent and need to be renewed less frequently due to their high resistance. The fact that Silres HP 2000 LV allows the formulation of coatings that only need to be applied in two coats also conserves resources and improves the sustainability of such coatings. At the ECS, Wacker will be presenting several coating samples based on the binder combination Silres HP 2000 LV and cycloaliphatic epoxy resins. Wacker will be at ECS 2025 in Nuremberg from March 25 to 27, 2025 in Hall 1, Booth 1-206.