Urethane Acrylates on Metal Substrates

Urethane acrylates offer an excellent property profile as binders for UV curable coatings. They combine toughness, chemical and abrasion resistance with flexibility and, for the aliphatic types, with outdoor resistance as well. Highly recommended applications include, before all, coatings on different types of plastics or top-coats on pre-coated substrates. Direct to metal application is seldom recommended, usually due to poor adhesion and limitations in corrosion protection properties. We investigated new types of more hydrophobic urethane acrylates in 100%, solventborne and waterborne formulations and their potential for direct to metal UV-cured coatings.