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| PAINT&PINTURA |Março2016
chemicalandresistanceproperties.“Accordingly, todaywe
offer several titaniumdioxide lines featuringvariousunder-
tones tomeet the requirements of different applications.
Forexample,weprovideproductsfeaturingextremelyhigh
brightnessandeasydispersion forpremiumpaintsoreven
productsthechiefpropertyofwhich isopacity.Concerning
sustainability,productionprocessesaremuch improvedon,
always in searchof greater efficiency in terms of not only
waste,butalsoenergy, therebycontributingtoamoresus-
tainableproductionprocess,”saysAromattechnicalmanager
FernandoRosa.
Titaniumdioxide isused inthemostvariedofpaintandcoa-
tingssegments,alwaysthankstothebrightnessandopacityit
delivers.“Eachtypeofpaintorcoatingproductposesitsown
requirements,andthat’swhytherearedifferenttitaniumdio-
xidegrades.Thegradethatismostusedinpaintformulations
istherutiletitaniumdioxide,whichprovidesopacityboth in
thewetfilmandafterdrying,whilebeingeasytostabilize in
theformulationandcompatiblewiththevariouscomponents
ofapaint,”FernandoRosasays.
The titaniumdioxidemarket never ceases to evolveworl-
dwide,andseveralcharacteristicsofthatproducthavebeen
improved inthepastfewyears.“Withaviewtobeatingthe
competition, manufacturers invest heavily on dispersion,
hidingpower,brightness,oilabsorptionandotherkeypaint
properties. Seeking to set themselves apart, they are also
investing in new surface treatmentmethods for titanium
dioxide.Notlongago,onlyaluminaandsilicawereusedinthat
treatment,whereasoverthepastfewyears,certainmanufac-
turershavebeenusingzirconiumandmore recentlyadded
TMPs, which are rawmaterials that provide greater gloss
andbrightness,whileimprovingdispersion.Forexample,the
FR-767 titaniumdioxidepigmentwe import todaydelivers
similaror, insomecases,evengreaterbrightnesscompared
to thepremium titaniumdioxideproductsavailableon the
market,withnoprejudicewhatsoever tohidingpowerand
dispersion,whichwasunthinkablefortitaniumdioxidemade
inChinauntiljustafewyearsback,”saysFernandoAndrukiu,
marketingandbusiness intelligencemanagerat Interbrasil.
Despitebeingoneof themost important products in the
portfolioof rawmaterials for paintmanufacturersdue to
thegreatbenefitsofusingit,TiO2hasasignificantimpacton
thecostbreakdownofdecorativepaintformulations,hence
theongoingefforts towardsoptimizing them,whetherby
replacing it with other rawmaterials ormaking a better
useof its properties, according toCarloPiergallini, of the
marketingdepartment forLatinAmerica.“Thiswillalways
beoneofthemain jobsforthetechnical teamsattitanium
dioxide companies, althoughwe, at Cristal, believe that
our efforts shouldbe focusedmostly onmaking abetter
useofTiO2properties thanon its replacement, as there is little
room for makingmajor replacements without compromising
thepropertiesofpaintsandcoatingsandtheircompliancewith
technical standards.”
INDUSTRY IN THE SPOTLIGHT - AXALTA CELEBRATES 150
YEARSOF INNOVATION
In2016,AxaltaCoatingSystemscelebrates150yearsofcreating
innovative industrial coatings. Axalta’s heritage dates back to
1866,when its first productsweredeveloped inGermany, and
sincethenthecompanyhasgrownintooneoftheworld’sleading
manufacturersof liquidandpowdercoatings.
“AllofusatAxaltaareexcitedtoreachthis importantmilestone
in thehistoryofour company,”explainedAxaltachairmanand
CEOCharlieShaver.“Overthenext12months,wewillcelebrate
ourpastandbuildonourextensiveknowledgeandexperience
forthenext150years.Withnearly13,000employeesand120,000
customers in130countries,wewillcontinuetouseadvancedte-
chnologiestodevelopnext-generationcoatings,whileproviding
outstandingqualityandservice intheyearsahead.”
From the earliest products that supplied European carriage
manufacturerswithcolorful coatings inthenineteenthcentury,
Axaltaevolvedtomeettheneedsofanautomotive industrythat
flourished inthetwentiethcentury. Inthe1920’s,Axalta introdu-
cedthefirstquick-dryingmulti-color lacquer line forautomobile
production in theUS. Company scientists developed the L,a,b
colorequationsthatbecameakeyanalytictool inthecatalogue
ofcolorscience.Inthesubsequentdecades,technologyatAxalta
evolvedtoproducecoatingsthatwere increasinglydurableand
productive. Inthe1980’s,thecompanyushered inthefirstmore
environmentally responsible liquid coating systems with the
introduction of waterborne products. Building on experience
acquiredwith its original Spies Hecker and Standox products,
Axaltabranchedouttoproviderefinishtechnicianswithimproved
coatingproductsandsystems.Inthe1990’s,theCromaxfamilyof
waterborneproductswas introducedtoautomotivebodyshops.
HandheldspectrophotometersandVINdicatorcolortoolswere
developedtohelpprovideexcellentcolormatchingwhichsaves
repairtimeandreduceswaste.
As the needs acrossmany industries evolved, so did Axalta’s
portfolioof products. To serve agrowingnumber of industrial
customers, Axalta introduced the Nap-Gard powder coatings
for oil and gas pipelinemanufacturers. Today, both functional
coatingsandawidearrayofAlestadecorativepowdercoatings
areused inthousandsofapplications.TheVoltatexelectrical insu-
lationcoatingsenhancetheproductivityofmotorsandahostof
electrical components.Vehicles ranging fromheavy-duty trucks
andbuses to trainsandother rail stock relyon Imron toprotect
their vehicles from the elements, whileusing vibrant colors to
build recognition fortheirbrands.
