Abrasion resistant urethane coatings

Abstract

A radiation curable and abrasion resistant coating composition is provided comprising: (a) 70% to 98% by weight of an urethane-acrylate oligomer; (b) 2% to 30% of fine particles of a filler capable of imparting abrasion resistance having an average particle size in the range of 1-20 microns; (c) optionally a reactive diluent; and (d) optionally an synthetic resin. The coatings when applied to wood floorings impart superior abrasion resistance.

Description

[0001] This application is a continuation of pending application U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 071,952 filed May 4, 1998, which depends from No. 60 / 045,516 filed May 2, 1997.[0002] This invention relates to improved coatings which provide increased wear in commercial applications. This invention further relates to coating compositions and a coating system which forms a highly abrasion resistant, chemical resistant, impact resistant protective finish for a substrate. The present invention also relates to polyurethane coatings containing metal oxide fillers which are particularly useful for imparting abrasion resistance to wood floors. The instant invention also provides substrates coated with UV curable acrylated urethane coatings containing fillers which impart abrasion resistance to said substrates.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART[0003] Polyurethane compositions have been proposed for and used for coating hardwood floors for many years. In the flooring as earlier use...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] The obvious solution to the high xylene content, to use less, did not work: Bubbles formed, which eventually broke and collected dirt. Apparently, reducing the xylene content permitted the surface skin to form. This stopped outward diffusion of carbon dioxide which, being entrapped, formed bubbles.

[0021] Abrasion resistant coatings of this type are typically based upon acrylate monomers which are cured or crosslinked after application of the coating, typically by radiation curing. Radiation curable coatings offer the advantage of being rapidly cured and polymerized without requiring curing ovens and they can be applied and processed without having to remove solvents and deal with solvent vapors in the workplace environment.

Problems solved by technology

Furthermore, the urethane composition invariably turned brown after prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light.

Finally the many coats required a great deal of labor, could not be applied in a single day, and the large quantities of solvent such as xylene caused considerable toxicity and odor.

1. A sealer coat was applied to keep out stains, give adhesion to any substrate, and bond to the next coat. This was either a 100%-solids epoxy or an epoxy emulsion.

2. A chip coat was developed to hold the chips, bridge cracks in the floor, and bond to the next coat. Ordinarily this was the same as the sealer coat.

3. A chip-binding coat or intermediate coat was applied to bind the very hydrophilic chips to each other and to harden them up enough so that they could be sanded. In most cases one or more coats of a polyurethane glaze was used for this purpose, but in some instances a polymeric latex or a clear epoxy emulsion was used.

4. Finally, glaze coats of curing polyurethane in solvent were applied to provide the wearing surface and to give abrasion resistance, stain resistance, and leveling. For each of the coats, an obvious requirement is rapid cure. Without it the job would take too long to be practical.

While the multi-layer system thus proposed is much superior to the original system, it still has many problems.

When the epoxy emulsion or 100% solids epoxy is used for both sealer and chip coats, it becomes brittle, shrinks and cracks.

In addition, the cure rate of the epoxies is very temperature dependent.

Being two package materials, a material with a reasonably long pot life has an inordinately long cure time on a cold floor.

Another problem peculiar to the epoxies, when used in urethane systems, is "purpling".

The cause is not well understood, but in a significant number of cases the interface between the epoxy and an unpigmented urethane develops an unsightly purple color.

While the currently available base and chip coats present problems, they are more satisfactory than the currently available glazes which have the following faults:

A. The very high xylene content is unsatisfactory for two reasons--the large amount of xylene is unpleasant and dangerous, and the solids content of the glaze is so low that several coats must be applied leading to high labor costs.

The obvious solution to the high xylene content, to use less, did not work: Bubbles formed, which eventually broke and collected dirt.

For example, hexamethylene diisocyanate is extremely expensive, is highly toxic, and rather slow to cure.

However, IPDI has serious drawbacks: although less toxic than HMDI or hexamethylene diisocyanate, it can still cause serious harm via skin absorption.

The abrasion resistance problem is probably the most serious.

None of the solutions mentioned above helped to improve this property.

The aliphatic isocyanates, rather than helping improve abrasion resistance, made it worse.

Although the coatings are quite hard and resistant to abrasion and scratching, they are brittle and have a tendency to crack and peel from the substrate, especially when applied to relatively flexible substrates or when subjected to impact.

However, in achieving increased flexibility and reduced brittleness, the abrasion resistance of the coating is sacrificed.

A coating which has good scratch abrasion resistance may not necessarily have good impact abrasion resistance.

The radiation cured abrasion resistance coatings noted in the aforementioned prior patents have a relatively poor resistance to impact abrasion which renders these types of coatings unacceptable for applications requiring both good resistance to scratching abrasion an good resistance to impact abrasion.

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