
2024 SOS Speakers


Andrew Recker
Keynote Speaker
Intentional Innovating Through Fail Fast Formulating
Andrew ReckerĀ
Andrew is currently the Vice President of R&D for the Protective and Marine Division of Sherwin-Williams.Ā He has worked in research and development for several major companies over the past 25 years in various industrial markets with a current focus on protective and marine coatings.Ā His diverse chemistry and application experience has provided for novel market solutions in metal finishing, automotive coatings, and protective and marine markets.Ā He is certified NACE CIP level 2, and NACE Protective Coatings Specialist level 2.

Chuck Shearer
Northeast Field Technical Service Representative, Covestro Coating Resins
New 1K-Waterbased Resin for Residential Vinyl Window Coatings
Chuck is currently a Northeast Field Technical Service Representative in the FTS group at Covestro Coating Resins, where he has been for 26 years. He holds a BA degree in Chemistry/Biology from Annhurst College and has completed advanced Chemistry courses at Northeastern University in Boston.
Chuck is a past-President of the New England Society for Coatings Technology, has served on the Board of Directors for the former FSCT, was Technical Chair of the Eastern Coatings Show 2019, and serves as the NE representative and Chair of the ACA Society Liaison Committee. He currently is co-author of two US patents in coatings technologies.
New 1K-Waterbased Resin for Residential Vinyl Window Coatings
PVC constitutes ~74% of all substrates used for window frames today.Ā Current technology is either colored extrusions or painted with 2K solvent based technologies.Ā With regulations getting tougher on VOC emissions, a need for low VOC systems has arisen.Ā Of particular challenge to any 1K system is the AAMA test for Detergent Resistance.Ā A new resin has been developed which meets all the AAMA specifications for vinyl window paints as a 1K waterbased system.

Debora Hense
Technical Director, Stonebridge Coatings Laboratory, Inc.
Formulatorsā Bio-Toolkit:Ā A Deeper Dive Into Soy-Based Raw Materials for Waterbased Coatings
Ms. Hense serves as Technical Director of Stonebridge Coatings Laboratory where she and her team help companies assess the usefulness of new ideas, technologies and products for the paints and coatings industries.Ā She has over 30 years of experience in a variety of industrial and OEM coatings technologies.Ā She also has expertise in architectural paints, methods for analyzing coatings and physical methods of testing paints and coatings. Ā Henseās experience extends beyond coatings to include adhesives, inks and polymeric films.Ā She holds a B.S. in Polymers and Coatings Technology and an M.S. in Polymer Chemistry from Eastern Michigan University.Ā
Formulatorsā Bio-Toolkit:Ā A Deeper Dive Into Soy-Based Raw Materials for Waterbased Coatings
With growing demand for sustainability in the coatings industry, manufacturers are searching for ways to achieve their goals.Ā Turning to bio-renewable raw materials is one way to get there.Ā For decades, soya-based alkyd resins have been used in solvent-based coatings, but until recently, little has been available for use in water-based coatings.Ā This presentation provides an overview of soy-based raw materials that are commercially available for use in water-based paints and coatings.Ā It dives deeper into those materials with the preparation and testing of coatings formulated with bio-renewable coalescing agents and soy-alkyd dispersions compared to their petroleum-based counterparts.Ā Applications include architectural and industrial maintenance paints (DTM).Ā The soy materials to be presented will provide formulators with additional tools necessary to develop sustainable coatings.

Milena Garay-Tovar
Applications Scientist, The Lubrizol Corporation
Bio-based High Solids Polyamide Polyols for Protective Coatings
Milena Garay-Tovar is currently an Applications Scientist at Lubrizol Performance Coatings Group. She has worked in the coatings industry for 20 years, developing new and sustainable high-performance coatings and polymers for the automotive and general industrial markets in South America and North America. She started her career in Gricoat de Colombia, where she supported the implementation of the Quality Management System and worked several years developing coatings and in-house resins.Ā After moving to USA and receiving her M.S. degree in Polymers and Coatings Technologies from Eastern Michigan University, she joined the OE Auto Interior team of Sherwin-Williams, where she formulated coatings for the automakers. Then, back in 2022, she moved to the Lubrizol Corporation, where she is currently supporting the development of novel polymeric technologies from the applications side.
Bio-based High Solids Polyamide Polyols for Protective Coatings
Milena Garay-Tovar, Gabor Erdodi, Samantha Detgen, Chandra Pandey
Polyurethanes are one of the most versatile materials for solvent borne protective and industrial coating applications, with innovation increasingly focusing on sustainability and emission reductions. Lubrizol has developed a novel soft segment chemistry for polyurethanes using polyamides, which in the past few years has been successfully incorporated into high performance waterborne coating products. We now introduce polyamide polyols for solvent borne polyurethane topcoat applications targeting protective and industrial markets. Coatings made from these novel polyols provide excellent solutions for applications where weatherability, color stability, and gloss retention with good adhesion to primer and metal surfaces are critical. They can be formulated into high solid, low volatile organic content (VOC) paints (<250g/L) contributing 70% bio-content to the coating system that can be fully cured with reduced levels of catalysts or tin-free versions, enabling sustainable solutions. We found that the use of polyamide chemistry imparts enhanced mechanical and barrier properties to the polyurethane, providing high solvent resistance and a tough film with a combination of hardness and flexibility. Formulated paints have high performance with all relevant aliphatic isocyanates without the need to combine different polyols, although the new binders do show good compatibility with acrylic and polyester resins. In this talk, we will present a solution to the most challenging environmental issues of the solvent borne industry by leveraging high solid bio-based polyamide polyols integrated into a coating system with high performance and sustainability.

Glenn Baroone
Sales, USA Patchem
What Does Sustainability Mean To You?
Patcham USA Sales Manager has over 40 years of coatings industry experience.
An extensive background with all rheology modifier technologies Ā and other coating ingredients used in paints .
The use of rheology modifiers beginning over 40 years ago- initially solvent based lacquer and alkyds, thru technology developments of todays latex systems, and concurrent coating coloring systems.
Understanding the development and importance of wetting/dispersant/surfactant interactions, Ā leading to many of todays advanced rheology modifiers. The interfacial relationship between latex-pigment-filler- wetting/dispersing agents and rheology performance make todays formulator more dependent and knowledgeable of total system performance . Patchamās expertise resides in managing the interfacial relationships brought by all the many paint ingredients.
What does Sustainability mean to you?
Sustainability in our industry means more than the replacement of fossil fuel based raw materials with a more environmentally friendly version that might have less detrimental impact on our planet.Ā There is much more to sustainability than just the ingredients we use to make and formulate organic coatings.Ā Amongst the many factors are energy usage, waste disposal, coating service life, fossil fuel usage efficiency to produce the EF alternatives, market acceptance of the new formulation, and the marketing benefits of claiming to be sustainability.
What does this all mean?Ā The claim of sustainability is very vague depending on the view of justification of the claimant.
Is biobased, non-fossil, renewable raw material sufficient to claim sustainability?
What about service life, and cost of product application in cases of labor intensive maintenance service schedules?
This presentation aims to discuss a more total approach to sustainability in terms of upstream as well as downstream impact, power consumption, and service life and their overall impact on sustainability.

Israel Skoff
Technical Marketing Manager, Lubrizol Advanced Materials, Inc.
High Solids TEA-free Waterborne Polyurethane Dispersions
Israel Skoff is a Technical Marketing Manager at Lubrizol Advanced Materials, Inc with 11 years of service. He received his Bachelorās in Chemical Engineering and Masterās in Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering from the University of Akron. Prior to his role as a Technical Marketing Manager, he worked in the Technical Service labs and the New Product Development group creating and supporting Lubrizolās line of polyurethane and acrylic dispersions.
Lubrizol Advanced Materials, Inc.
Israel Skoff
Israel.Skoff@lubrizol.com
(330) 208-5866
High Solids TEA-free Waterborne Polyurethane Dispersions
High solid content polyurethane dispersions (PUDs) can help deliver both sustainability and performance features in waterborne polyurethane coatings. The highest attainable solid content for waterborne polyurethane dispersions is lower than what can be achieved in acrylic emulsions. In this presentation, we show our journey using novel technology to guide the development of several high solids waterborne dispersions with over 50% solid content, approaching the limits of acrylic emulsions while maintaining a high performance polyurethane. The increased solids content has several benefits for coatings applications, including the elimination of a coating step, thicker coatings, reduction of dry time and lowered coalescing solvent need. These products were also designed with regulatory needs in mind and have been developed without the use of TEA or NMP. The combination of these advantages and the well-known high performance of the polyurethanes is expected to be a valuable benefit to a large variety of coating applications.Ā

Jeffrey Hamilton
Technical Service Engineer, Arkema, Kynar Coatings Group
Advances in 1K PVDF/Acrylic Hybrid Dispersion and their Applications
Jeffrey Hamilton is a Technical Service Engineer for Arkemaās KYNAR Ā® Coatings Group.Ā I have been in the Fluoropolymer coatings industry for more than 25 years. I was a Technical Service Representative for DuPont/ Chemoursā TeflonĀ® Industrial Coatings Group for 25 years before joining Arkema.Ā Ā I am the technical contact within the KynarĀ® coatings group, providing technical guidance in formulation design, coating application, and testing specification requirements.Ā I work closely with both internal and external R&D coating chemist to aid in the development of both waterborne and solvent based coatings containing KynarĀ® resins.Ā My responsibilities also include the management of our internal weathering programs, both real world exposure in Southern Florida, and accelerated testing facilities at our internal laboratories.
Advances in 1K PVDF/Acrylic Hybrid Dispersion and their Applications
Waterborne coatings formulated utilizing aqueous hybrid dispersions of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and acrylic resins have a long history in the architectural market space. They exhibit exceptional weatherability and can meet stringent VOC requirements and sustainability targets. For applications requiring strong chemical resistance, hydroxy-functional PVDF-Acrylic dispersions are available, which allow formulators to build resistance properties with isocyanate crosslinking (2K). However, coating formulations containing isocyanate have several drawbacks that can limit their widespread usage. These concerns include respiratory hazards to paint applicators and their environmental impact when applied in field applications.Ā A concern for the coatingās formulator, is micro-foaming in the resultant films due to CO2 generation during the reaction of isocyanate with water. Recently, new self-cross linkable (1K) PVDF/acrylic hybrid latexes were successfully developed, which give comparable performance to 2K isocyanate-based systems. In addition, they can be formulated at <100 g/L VOC. Ā These advances widen the end-use applications in the current market space and expand their usage into other market spaces. The detailed properties, such as detergent resistance, chemical resistance, dirt pick-up resistance, and target applications as architectural facade coatings and protective coatings will be presented.

Ramon Lozada
Global Product Manager, Vibrantz Technologies, Architectural Coatings
Sustainable technology enhances the future of colorant tinting systems
Ramon Lozada is the global product manager for architectural coatings at Vibrantz Technologies (formerly Chromaflo), the leading global supplier of colorants and tinting concepts for architectural and industrial coatings and plastics. With more than a decade of coatings experience, Lozada joined Vibrantz in 2018 as a color scientist, later incorporating his technical service expertise into product management. Prior to Vibrantz, Lozada has experience as a plant chemist at Sherwin Williams. He has a bachelorās degree in chemistry from the University of Toledo and a Master of Business Administration from Youngstown State University.
Vibrantz Color Solutions Inc.
Ramon Lozada
(330)-951-5170
ramon.lozada@vibrantz.com
6060 Parkland Blvd.
Mayfield Heights, Ohio 44124
Sustainable technology enhances the future of colorant tinting systems
Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the architectural waterborne coatings industry, whether to meet regulatory requirements or growing customer and consumer demands. One of the primary issues facing traditional colorants is the everincreasing pressure to provide products free of biocides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other additives. Meeting these requirements without compromising coating performance is an ongoing challenge for colorant producers. VOC-free colorants, while more environmentally friendly, come with their own set of challenges, including mold and bacteria formation, sedimentation, extended colorant drying times and the necessity for additional thickening in the waterborne coatings system.
Various challenges of traditional VOC-free colorants can also extend to the point-of-sale equipment systems used for dosing. These systems can lead to extended downtimes due to colorant changes, increased colorant consumption driving up ownership costs, issues like mold formation, tube clogging and tip drying, as well as syneresis-related problems. These obstacles can cause significant and untimely delays for coatings companies, result in higher ownership costs, and ultimately increase the carbon footprint within the supply chain.
To address these challenges, Vibrantz Technologies developed a novel breakthrough technology, a high-performing and sustainable solution that revolutionizes the colorant tinting process. As the architectural waterborne coatings industryās first and only volumetrically dosed tinting system of solid colorants designed for use in architectural and industrial waterborne paint applications, this technology offers several key sustainability benefits, many performance enhancements, and a decrease on the carbon footprint of traditional liquid colorants!
This patented technology has an improved sustainability profile compared to traditional tinting systems. The solid colorants are formulated without biocides, VOCs or extra additives, and will not dry out, thicken or cause sediment. Made with 100% recyclable packaging, this technology reduces overall waste and doubles the colorant shelf life from two to four years!
As a solid, the product lessens the intricacy and wear associated with liquid tinting, reducing the complexity of machinery and minimizing the need for recurring maintenance. Additionally, it eliminates purging cycles and maximizes ease of use, lowering the need for spare parts, additional trips from technicians and overtime helping to decrease our carbon footprint.
The uniformed shape and narrow particle size of each solid colorant offers superior tinting accuracy and less mistints. The need for fewer additives minimizes the impact on important properties of the end-use paint. Lowering the active ingredients also decreases the impact on viscosity drop, increases blocking resistance and allows the waterborne coatings binder systems to maintain its film properties.
This innovation is uniquely positioned to provide sustainability, tinting efficiency and enhanced performance advantages. With the integration of cloud technology to drive dispensing, matching and analytics, this innovative technology revolutionizes the architectural waterborne coatings industry and offers precise control over the entire tinting process.

Sadia Younas
Market Development Manager, Vencorex
Novel Polyisocyanates for Flexibilizing Polyurea Coatings
Sadia Younas has been working as a market development manager at Vencorex for over two years. Prior to Vencorex, she worked as a technical service chemist at BYK USA. She holds a bachelors in Chemistry from Southern Connecticut State University and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. Sadia joined Vencorex in 2021 and works as Market Development Manager, she is responsible for technical support on Vencorex polyisocyanates in the Americas region.
Sadia Younas, Vencorex
sadia.younas@vencorex.com
Cell Phone: 203-427-1896
Novel Polyisocyanates for Flexibilizing Polyurea Coatings
Polyisocyanates are widely used as building blocks together with polyols to form polyurethanes. These materials find use in a variety of applications due to their excellent durability, and mechanical properties. However, a large number of polyurethane formulations are solvent-borne and decreasing the amount of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) can be challenging. Solvent-free technologies are one solution. Among these, polyurea formulations (reaction of polyisocyanates with polyamines instead of polyols) are of high interest, especially polyaspartic ester formulations.
The reaction of polyamines with polyisocyanates is much faster compared to polyols. This generally improves the drying and curing time but can unfavorably impact other parameters such as the pot life of the formulation. One additional issue with polyurea formulations can be a high level of brittleness.
Fortunately, the properties of such formulations can be fine-tuned by adjusting the starting materials. Different polyaspartic ester resins can be used having different reactivities and levels of rigidity, however it possible to further optimize these formulations by also adjusting the type of polyisocyanate used.
This presentation will look at the benefits that can be achieved through the use of novel polyisocyanate technologies, particularly with regard to improving the flexibility and pot life of the final coating.

Matthew Dunn
Business Development Manager, Lubrizol Advanced Materials, North America
100% Active Dispersants for Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Coatings
Matt Dunn is a Business Development Manager for Lubrizolās Performance Coatings business in North America. He has been with Lubrizol for 27 years, working in a variety of roles within the Coatings Division. He currently manages the Technical Marketing team, supporting Lubrizolās Dispersants, Waxes, and Specialty Additive product lines. Starting his career in the Blackley, UK facility, Matt has been based out of Brecksville, Ohio for the past 10 years. He graduated from the University of Birmingham in the UK with a BSc in Chemistry.
Lubrizol Advanced Materials
matthew.dunn@lubrizol.com
(440) 570-9157
https://www.lubrizol.com/coatings
100% Active Dispersants for Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Coatings
The latest developments in 100% solids, zero VOC dispersants allow for excellent handling properties while still maintaining exceptional pigment and particle dispersion capabilities. The unique combination of novel polymer-chain technology and innovative pigment anchor chemistries enable easy handling at 100% solids with greater formulation flexibility and universality than lower solids dispersants. The hazards of solvents are removed, and transport and manufacturing efficiency are improved, reducing overall carbon footprint and improving ease of use. Novel 100% active aqueous dispersants are flowable at room temperature and benefit from simpler regulatory and labelling scrutiny through elimination of biocides. In non-aqueous and UV-cure applications, 100% active dispersants can help reduce overall VOC, broaden dispersant compatibility with solvents and monomers, and allow for greater formulator flexibility. Strong color performance can be achieved in pigment dispersions with equal or better performance compared to lower solids alternatives. This presentation will highlight recent advances in 100% active hyperdispersant technology for aqueous and non-aqueous coatings and the performance thereof.

Dr. Ziniu Yu
Technical Service Manager - Coatings at W. R. Grace
Easy to Process: New Silica Matting Agent for Energy Curable Coatings
Dr. Ziniu Yu is a Technical Service Manager - Coatings at W. R. Grace covering North America region. He provides technical supports for customers involved in all coatings applications. He is also leading the coating application development group at Grace to develop new application for Graceās silica products. Dr. Yu has more than 9 years of coating industry experience, which has expertise in both industrial and architecture applications. Dr. Yu holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and M.S. in Statistics from Texas Tech University and a B.S. in Polymer Engineering from the East China University of Science and Technology.
Easy to Process: New Silica Matting Agent for Energy Curable Coatings
Author: Dr. Ziniu Yu, Technical Service Manager ā Coatings, W. R. Grace
With the changes of peopleās taste in furniture and flooring aesthetics, low-gloss energy curable coatings are becoming popular in the coatings industry. However, the traditional silica matting agents in the energy curable coating can significantly increase the viscosity of the formulation, which may limit the flexibility of formulation development at formulators. In addition, the viscosity increase may force the convertors to change their application process to adapt to this viscosity by, for example, raising the application temperature during roller coating.
In this paper, a new silica matting agent with special organic treatment is introduced. It provides lower shear and processing viscosity compared to traditional matting agents, which allows the applicators to have larger bandwidth in processing the coatings system. In addition, excellent matting efficiency was observed when combined with smaller particle size matting agent in the formulation. The other performance features like chemical resistance, hardness and film clarity are investigated. With the rheological benefits and good chemical and physical performance, the newly developed silica matting agents are the ideal solution for 100% VOC-free energy curable coating systems.

Mike Jefferies
Mike Jeffries, Field Technical Service Manager, Covestro
Looking Beyond Performance Specifications to Capitalize on New Opportunities in Factory Applied Coatings
Mike began his career at Covestro (Mobay at the time) in 1989 working in the Quality Assurance Laboratory. In 1992 he moved into Research. There he worked on the scale up of the various polyisocyanates, polyisocyanate prepolymers, polyaspartics and polyurethane dispersions into production. In 1998 he specifically began working on the development on new isocyanate resins for use in the coatings industry. In 2007 Mike began a customer facing roll as a Field Technical Service Manager and became a technical resource for Covestro customers and the coatings industry. Mike has been awarded fifteen patents and holds a BS Degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently a Business Development Manager at Covestro.
Looking Beyond Performance Specifications to Capitalize on New Opportunities in Factory Applied Coatings
In today's world of factory applied coatings there are many challenges facing the coater. These can be anything from regulatory and permitting issues, cost of energy, loss of experience or reduced capital budgets preventing expansion to name a few. Adding to this, formulators as face many challenges. These could be a need to reduce the VOC in their formulation, use of less fossil and more bio-carbon or even particular parts of formulations being regulated away. All of these challenges have one thing in common. Meeting a coating performance specification will not address these challenges for the formulator no the end users.
For resin suppliers and coatings formulators to continue to offer products in the future they will need to do much more than just meet a performance specification. They will need to offer products that will meet some of the challenges of the end user has today as well as those which will come in the future.
This presentation will show how to find opportunities, in factory applied industrial coatings, which are not being addressed with a coating specification. It will show how particular coating attributes can bring additional value to the end user. This may be in speed, versatility, regulatory, or reducing layers. In particular this paper will concentrate on new water-based alternatives which bring additional value to the end user while maintain all of the current must haves for the application.

Stephanie Vanslambrouck
Chief Scientist ā Technical Manager, EMCO-Inortech
Elongation in Epoxy membranes: a comparative study of formulation modifications and plasticizer effects
After a master in Chemistry at UniversitĆ© Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), Stephanie hold her Ph.D. degree in Polymer Chemistry from UniversitĆ© de LiĆØge (Belgium) in 2015. She continued with two postdoctoral fellowships in surface modification for medical devices (2015- 2017) and in wood densification (2017-2019) at Laval University (Quebec, Canada). In December 2019, she joined EMCO-Inortech as R&D Scientist and since January 2024, she is Chief Scientist ā Technical Manager.
Elongation in Epoxy membranes: a comparative study of formulation modifications and plasticizer effects
Stephanie Vanslambrouck*, Ligia Bardasu*, Laurent Desfontaines*
*EMCO-Inortech, Terrebonne, Canada
Epoxy membranes, with their remarkable mechanical strength, chemical resistance, and thermal stability, are gaining traction for diverse applications including coatings, insulation components, medical devices, and packaging. One key feature that enhances the adaptability of these sturdy materials is their ability to elongate significantly without rupture, a characteristic that is vital in applications demanding both flexibility and durability.
This paper explores the integral role of elongation in determining the performance of epoxy membranes. To delve deeper, we will modify the formulation by integrating a nonyl phenol-free and MEKO-free extender and/or plasticizers. Our study aims to offer a comparative analysis of how these product modifications impact the elongation properties of the membranes.
Furthermore, we will draw a detailed comparison between phthalate and phthalate-free plasticizers, shedding light on how each influences the performance and characteristics of the epoxy membranes. The insights gleaned from this research could potentially steer the design of more efficient and effectives applications of epoxy membranes.
Ā

Stephanie Yates
Advanced Application Development Engineer, Momentive Performance Materials
Silicone-Based PFAS-Free Solutions for Architectural Coatings
Stephanie Yates is an Advanced Application Development Engineer with Momentive Performance Materials in Tarrytown, New York.Ā With 24 years of formulation experience, her primary focus includes coatings for Architectural and Industrial Applications.Ā She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Chemistry and holds an MBA from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā
Silicone-Based PFAS-Free Solutions for Architectural Coatings
Silicone polymers are well known for their low surface energy, high hydrophobicity and UV stability, along with their flexible backbones which can support a wide range of functional groups.Ā In this paper we will discuss differentiated, functional silicone emulsions for Architectural Coatings, including interior, exterior and masonry. These emulsions are free of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances and performance is comparable to traditional PFAS containing solutions.Ā We will introduce our sustainable product portfolio that protect and restore surfaces resulting in durable, stain resistant and hydrophobic coatings.

Dr. Gautam Haldankar
Technical Manager at Allnex
Novel Resins and Formulation Approaches for Challenging Regulations
Dr. Gautam Haldankar is a Technical Manager at Allnex. Prior, he has held various positions from scientist to technical service and business development manager. Earlier, he has worked with Sherwin-Williams, Akzo Nobel, and Nuplex Resins. He received his Ph.D. in Polymer Science from the University of Connecticut. He has over 30 years of experience in the resins and coatings industry and has numerous publications and patents under his belt.
Novel Resins and Formulation Approaches for Challenging Regulations
The US has set a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% compared to 2005 levels by 2030. According to American Coatings Association (ACA) publications, there are concerns for the future of exempt status of parachlorobenzotrifluoride (PCBTF) and tertiary butyl acetate (TBAC) solvents. Coating companies are facing a challenge to reformulate coatings with the existing resins, without the use of PCBTF and TBAC. Higher solids and optimal curing resins are needed to meet the demand of stringent VOCs, lower carbon emissions and ability to formulate without PCBTF and TBAC. Coating formulations play an equally important role with high solids resins.
In this paper we demonstrate the unique approaches and toolbox that a formulator can use based on recent advances in the areas of ultra-high solids resin technology and ways to formulate with identified key parameters. In our lab, we developed very high solids polyols ranging from 75% to 90% solids, that gave optimal curing and pot-life balance. The equivalent weight plays an important role in designing high solids resins as monofunctional moieties do not contribute to crosslinking and difunctional moieties give limited crosslinking.Ā To compensate for the performance of higher solids resins, reactivity needs to be higher than the traditional resins. We demonstrate, using the toolbox, feasibility to formulate low VOC coatings with optimal performance. We also illustrate the importance of coatings formulation by showing the effect of type of solvents, and catalyst levels on pot-life, dry-time and film properties. Among these, selection of solvents and catalysts play an important role to achieve balance between pot-life and final property development without vitrification. Various conventional and advanced film properties are evaluated including weathering performance by Xenon, cure kinetics using IR spectroscopy and crosslink density and Tg, by Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA). A set of very high solid resins gives ammunition to coating industries to meet the challenging upcoming regulations.

Gabor Erdodi, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, The Lubrizol Corporation
Bio-based High Solids Polyamide Polyols for Protective Coatings
Gabor Erdodi, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
In 2004 Dr. Erdodi received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry. After graduating he worked at the University of Akron on macromolecular design by living polymerizations, biomaterial projects, including the development of membranes for bioartificial pancreas, polymers for contact lens, and polyurethanes. Since 2011 Dr. Gabor Erdodi has been working at Lubrizol developing new products and technologies in the Performance Coatings department. He is the inventor of the AptalonTM technology, which is a platform for polyamide-based polyurethanes. Dr. Gabor Erdodi is the author of 28 scientific publications in peer reviewed journals and inventor in 24 patent applications.
Bio-based High Solids Polyamide Polyols for Protective Coatings
Ā
Milena Garay-Tovar, Gabor Erdodi, Samantha Detgen, Chandra Pandey
Ā
Ā
Polyurethanes are one of the most versatile materials for solvent borne protective and industrial coating applications, with innovation increasingly focusing on sustainability and emission reductions. Lubrizol has developed a novel soft segment chemistry for polyurethanes using polyamides, which in the past few years has been successfully incorporated into high performance waterborne coating products. We now introduce polyamide polyols for solvent borne polyurethane topcoat applications targeting protective and industrial markets. Coatings made from these novel polyols provide excellent solutions for applications where weatherability, color stability, and gloss retention with good adhesion to primer and metal surfaces are critical. They can be formulated into high solid, low volatile organic content (VOC) paints (<250g/L) contributing 70% bio-content to the coating system that can be fully cured with reduced levels of catalysts or tin-free versions, enabling sustainable solutions. We found that the use of polyamide chemistry imparts enhanced mechanical and barrier properties to the polyurethane, providing high solvent resistance and a tough film with a combination of hardness and flexibility. Formulated paints have high performance with all relevant aliphatic isocyanates without the need to combine different polyols, although the new binders do show good compatibility with acrylic and polyester resins. In this talk, we will present a solution to the most challenging environmental issues of the solvent borne industry by leveraging high solid bio-based polyamide polyols integrated into a coating system with high performance and sustainability.

Latoska N. Price, M.S.
Regional Technical Manager Coatings, Americas, Synthomer
New Biobased Versatile Binder for Architectural Coatings
Latoska N. Price, Regional Technical Service Manager, Coatings ā Americas at Synthomer, has worked in the Coatings Industry for over 20 years in the areas of Automotive, Industrial, Architectural and Color Science. She currently manages the Technical Service team for the Americas and serves as a technical contact ā working closely with Coatings customers to develop and support new and existing business.
Latoska earned her B.S. in Chemistry from University of Detroit Mercy and an M.S. in Polymer Technology from Eastern Michigan University.
New Biobased Versatile Binder for Architectural Coatings
A new versatile binder with 100%-biobased composition and -solids has been developed to enable our customers to formulate solvent-borne paints with lower VOC content and improved carbon footprint. In parallel, this polymer can be a surfactant free alternative to water-borne dispersions in water-based architectural coatings. For this development, Design of Experiments (DoE) was used to optimize key properties of the binder like color index, workable viscosity at 100% solids and different levels of biobased content.
In this paper, we present our polymer design approach and application results in formulation of architectural coatings comparing with standard binders.

Bruce Berglund
Sales, Business Development and Technical Support Manager at CHT USA
High Performance Wood Coating Additives
Bruce has a BA in chemistry from St. Olaf College, a MS in organic chemistry from The University of Minnesota at Duluth, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from The University of Illinois at Chicago, and an MBA from The University of Michigan.Ā He also performed research for a year in the organic chemistry department at Moscow State University in the Soviet Union.Ā Following graduate school, he worked in technical, sales, marketing and business management positions at Wacker, Lubrizol, Michelman, and Euclid before joining CHT.Ā Currently, he is a sales, business development and technical support manager for graphic arts and industrial coatings markets.
High Performance Wood Coating Additives
There are increasing demands for higher performance, more sustainable coatings employing more natural materials with substantial health, safety, and environmental properties. To address those challenges raw material suppliers and coatings manufacturers are increasingly turning to water-based solutions of that require efficient, environmentally friendly emulsion technologies. The science behind key wax and silicone additive technologies to meet these needs will be presented.Ā
Innovative technologies will be presented that utilize unique waxes, silicones, and wax ā silicone hybrids. These additives are used to disperse pigments, reduce foam, and provide coating advantages including wetting and leveling, water and oil repellency, block resistance, water beading, scratch and abrasion resistance, haptic properties, and both slip and anti-slip performance. Ā Novel coating additive features will be translated into specific advantages and benefits for coating formulators and end-users.

Mathias Dubecq
Business Development Manager for ADI and Waterborne Technologies at Wanhua Chemical (America)
Polyaspartic Coatings
Mathias Debecq joined PPG in 1990, where he worked on Decorative and Automotive coatings formulations.Ā He obtained his degree in Organic Chemistry in 1999 and joined Rhodia in 2001 as Technical Service manager of aliphatic isocyanates.Ā In 2007, he has been appointed global Tehnical Marketing Manager for Easaqua waterborne technology and in 2009 moved to the US and worked for Vencorex Inc. in Texas as Market Developement Manager for North and South America.Ā Mathias joined Wanhua in 2021 as the Business Development Director for North and South America for Polyols, Polyacrylics, Polyurethane Dispersions and Aliphatic Isocyanates.Ā
Polyaspartic coatings were developed about 30 years ago for coating steel, to prevent corrosion. Ā The high-performance coating attributes led to expanding the utility through experimentation of this technology into other applications.Ā
ā¢Over the years, polyaspartic coatings have improved and can be expanded into applications that traditionally are dominated by epoxy and urethane systems. The reaction to produce a polyaspartic coating is between the polyisocyanate (NCO) and an amine-functional resin (NH).Ā
ā¢The main challenge with polyaspartic technology is that working time is significantly reduced due to its fast reaction rate. The development of a polyaspartic coating that retains all the high-performance properties yet, provides sufficient working time is very desirable in the market.Ā
ā¢To meet this need, the use of an aliphatic polyisocyanate based on hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), and blends at different percentages were formulated and found to reduce the reaction rate. The polyisocyanate and blends were then compared with other equivalent products currently in the market.Ā

Jim Reader
AT Industrial & Transportation - CAD Applied Technology - Coating Additives
Predicting Defoamer Performance in Different Waterborne Coating Formulations
SENIOR TECHNICAL MANAGER ā INDUSTRIAL AND TRANSPORTATION COATINGS AMERICAS ā Evonik Corporation
Jim Reader graduated from the University of Warwick (UK) in 1988 with a Ph.D. in Chemistry. He joined Air Products and Chemicals in 1988 in Manchester (UK) as a Research Chemist and later an Application Development Chemist for the Epoxy Additives business. He then became Technical Manager for the Air Products Specialty Additives business in 1996 based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and has worked in Europe and Asia before becoming a Lead Chemist in Allentown, PA in 2008. Dr. Jim Reader joined Evonik Corporation as a Senior Technical Manager in January 2017.Ā He has extensive experience in the both the development and application of surfactants and defoamers in many different applications including paints, coatings, graphic arts, adhesives, concrete admixtures, and the production of
Predicting Defoamer Performance in Different Waterborne Coating Formulations
What is the usual procedure for selecting a defoamer for a new waterborne coating formulation? For many companies, the procedure appears to be as follows: try the defoamers that you currently use; if these donāt work then try samples in the lab, ask a colleague or friend or, maybe, ask a supplier. This approach makes
good sense when working with formulations that are similar, as defoamers will usually give consistent performance in similar formulations. However, when these tried and trusted defoamers donāt work, the chemist has the frustrating task of trying to find a suitable product. There is a truism in England that goes, āif all else fails, read the instructions,ā however, defoamers donāt usually come with instructions. Wouldnāt it be nice if they did?
Ā Defoamers can have a critical impact on the performance of a coating but finding the right defoamer for a given application can be time consuming and frustrating. Defoamer performance is controlled by the chemistry and formulation of the defoamer but it is also significantly affected by many variables in formulation, application and manufacture.Ā These variables include type of agitation, application method, coating ingredients and chemistry pigment volume concentration, coating viscosity, application thickness, and drying time.Ā However, based on the chemistry and formulation of a defoamer, it is possible to predict its performance in different types of coatings and applications. This paper will discuss how the design of defoamers can affect performance in different coating formulations and how coating formulators can more quickly find the optimal defoamer for their specific applications.

Bruno Soares DƔrio
TS&D Scientist for CASE at Indorama Ventures
Incorporation of Nonionic Reactive Surfactants and Resin Stability
Bruno DƔrio has over 8 years of experience in the industry of surfactants and specialty
chemicals. He has worked in Oil&Gas, Performance Products and Coatings, developing new products and
applications for surfactants. Currently, he is a TS&D Scientist for CASE at Indorama Ventures. He is
responsible for the technical support for North American customers in surfactants for emulsion
polymerization, coalescents, architectural and industrial coatings. Bruno earned his masterās degree in
chemistry from University of SĆ£o Paulo (Brazil) in 2021 focusing on the study of adsorption of surfactants.
He earned his bachelorās degree in chemistry at the same Institution in 2015.
Incorporation of Nonionic Reactive Surfactants and Resin Stability
Replacing conventional surfactants with reactive surfactants is not a straightforward process.
How the surfactant is added, the ratio of anionic to nonionic, the reaction conditions, and the ratio of
surfactant reacted into the polymer backbone, and reaction temperature all affect the emulsion
properties and coatings performance. These properties include scrub resistance, grit formation, shear
stability, and particle size to name a few.
The reactive surfactant was designed to react with the main monomers used in emulsion polymerization
and exhibit surface activity similar to that of conventional surfactants. The optimized formulation and
process allowed the incorporation of 70-85% of the reactive nonionic surfactant into polymer. Semi-gloss
paints formulated with the polymer made with reactive surfactant had up to 90% higher scrub resistance

Dr. Nemi Jain
Senior Technical Manager, Center of Excellence in Analytical Sciences
Global Supply Chain, Sherwin-Williams Co., Cleveland
Analytical Sciences for Non-Analytical Professionals
Dr. Nemi Jain is currently the Senior Technical Manager for the Global Supply Chain of Sherwin-Williams Co. He has been with the company for 34 years and worked in Chicago and Cleveland in a variety of roles in technical, analytical, management, EHS, talent management, communication and others.
Nemiās diverse expertise in chemistry, coatings, polymeric materials coupled with analytical & physical sciences have provided business and technical solutions for a wide array of coatings markets.
He has been associated with number of Universities in USA and in India including University of Virginia, Colorado State University, North Dakota State University, Cornell University, University of Delhi and University of Rajasthan. Nemi holds BS in Chemistry, Physics & Mathematics, MS in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Chemistry. He has numerous publications & presentations in chemistry, analytical sciences, characterization, failure analysis and coatings.
Nemi is a past-president of the Cleveland Coatings Society. Nemi is a co-founder of the CAALM (Cleveland Area Analytical Lab Manager). Recently, Nemi has been featured at the Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland.
Outline of Short Course
Analytical Sciences for Non-Analytical Professionals
The short course is designed for non-analytical professionals like formulators, product development chemists/engineers, QC & QA chemists/technicians, plant technical support associates, raw material and other STEM professionals. The analytical, physical and material sciences laboratories are an integral part of the paints & coatings related industriesā laboratories. These laboratories provide valuable resources for partnerships, customer service and problem solving. The course will benefit to both inexperienced and experienced professionals who seek to add their working knowledge and refine or augment their skills in analytical, and physical sciences. It will include a wide array of analytical and physical techniques and principles, novel and recent technologies with real life examples.
This short course is designed to help practicing professionals in the labs or in the fields to gain new skills and enhance knowledge in this field. The course will include a wide range of topics such as interactive discussions, case studies for illustration, & problem-solving tips and will help to speed up your daily work in the lab. It will also offer lot of opportunities for Q&A.

Vy Vo
Technical Marketing Manager for Orion Engineered Carbonsās Coatings segment in North America
Reducing Carbon Footprint with Sustainable Carbon Black
Vy Vo is a Technical Marketing Manager for Orion Engineered Carbonsās Coatings segment in North America. She has been in the coatings industry for over 10 years. She has joined Orion since 2022. Her role includes providing carbon black technical support to all coatings customers in the region. Prior to this she held various roles within the R&D divisions of PPG Industries and Sherwin Williams Company after graduating with a Biology and Chemistry degree at John Carroll University and Cleveland State University, respectively. She is currently pursuing her MBA at Youngstown State University.
Reducing Carbon Footprint with Sustainable Carbon Black
In a world marked by climate change, resource scarcity and limited recycling, we strive to become the premium supplier of sustainable carbon black solutions, enabling our customers to contribute to a healthier planet and a more circular economy.
Up until now, the carbon black industry has been dependent on conventional fossil feedstocks. We recognize the opportunities that investments in innovative and sustainable products and technologies have to offer. They contribute to our goal of launching a broad range of products using recycled materials. To reach our goal and reduce our dependency on fossil feedstocks significantly, we are focusing on three aspects:
ā¢ DECARBONIZATION of our production process to be able to provide renewable carbon black
ā¢ RECYCLING ā e.g., through manufacturing carbon black from oil made from end-of-life tires
ā¢ INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS for a low-carbon economy
Environmentally friendly and sustainable coating systems have become major innovation drivers in the global coatings industry. Consequently, powder coatings, ultra-high solid and water-borne coating systems have exhibited lower environmental impact with healthy growth potentials. For this, we will introduce these trends, innovations and opportunities.