Contributed by Eric Casebolt
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
At an estimated value of $11.9 billion in 2025, powder coating represents a relatively small but important segment of the overall $212 billion global coatings market. Asia Pacific represents the largest powder coating market, at approximately $6.2 billion, trailed equally by North America and Europe (see Fig. 1).
Globally, powder coatings are expected to outpace liquid coatings by 1-2 percentage points of annual value growth over the next five years, and this has been the case in recent history. Powder coatings have been a well-known coating technology for decades, so what is continuing to drive this growth?
Certainly, technological innovations such as low-temperature cure and macrotrends such as sustainability have and will continue to provide opportunities in the powder coatings space. These hot topics have been covered extensively over the years, and many companies continue to innovate in these areas to drive growth.
Beyond these well-known routes, however, many powder coating companies and raw material suppliers are actively innovating to address several more recent trends. Three such opportunity areas include electrification, aesthetic effects and finishes and the pursuit of PFAS-free products.
Figure 1: Global powder coating value distribution by region, 2025 ($ billion). Source: The ChemQuest Group Inc.
Electrification and Electrical Insulation
While the electrification trend is transforming coating requirements in a variety of ways, the topic most frequently discussed with respect to powder coatings is the need for dielectric coatings that provide electrical insulation. Powder coatings are increasingly being used in a variety of electrical applications— from hairpin stators in electric motors to data centers—to isolate conductive components and prevent the flow of electricity between them.
Several properties enable powder coatings to perform particularly well in these types of applications:
• Can be applied at high film builds in a single coat
• Offer excellent dielectric performance
• Protect substrates in extremely harsh environments
• Can be formulated to provide thermal conductivity without compromising their ability to electrically insulate the substrate
As electronic components become more compact and power densities continue to increase, the optimal balance of these properties becomes increasingly important and will help powder succeed in this growing, fast-moving market.
Aesthetic Effects and Finishes
Despite their strengths in areas such as single-coat, direct-to-metal applications and their advantaged environmental profile, powder coatings have historically been outmatched by liquid coatings in applications that prioritize aesthetic characteristics such as smoothness, gloss range and metallic finishes. As a result, aesthetic effects and finishes represent an active area of research for powder, particularly in segments such as architectural coatings where powder competes with liquid for market share.
Smoothness at low film build. Powder coating tends to suffer in an as-applied cost comparison with liquid due to its need to be applied at higher film builds, which is necessary to achieve a smooth finish with adequate coverage and hiding. Improving the cost comparison therefore requires lowering the film build, but this potentially puts the powder’s smoothness in jeopardy.
Developing smoother powder coatings can be complicated, however. For example, it is well-known that improved flow can be achieved by using binder components with lower glass transition temperature (Tg), but this route alone creates challenges with the powder’s processing and storage stability. In order to improve flow without negatively affecting processing and storage stability, formulators must consider additional factors such as crystallinity, hybrid materials and additives. As is often the case with coating formulation, it is a difficult balance to obtain the desired improvements without creating drawbacks with another coating property.
Gloss range. Controlling gloss in liquid coatings is generally straightforward, with the incorporation of large-particle-size extender pigments to reduce gloss to the desired level. However, this technique does not work to the same degree in powder coatings, as the film build is much higher and the melt and flow dynamics are quite different between a powder coating and a liquid coating. Therefore, powder coating formulators must turn to complex techniques such as controlled incompatibility and differential cure.
That said, powder coating companies have successfully focused on expanding the achievable gloss range over the past several years. Even in challenging environments (for example, AAMA 2605 standards), these offerings can rival liquid coatings’ gloss range in most applications.
Metallic finishes. Metallic pigments require specific dispersion and orientation to create a bright, uniform appearance; this has historically proven challenging for powder coatings. Metallic bonding provides a solution to address the issue. In this process, special mixing equipment is used to combine a polymer matrix, metallic pigment and additives prior to dry blending into the finished powder coating.
While third parties are often engaged in this process, many technology leaders choose to bring the metallic bonding in-house and continue to adjust both the formulation and the process to improve the appearance in the finished powder coating. Creating such a competitive advantage in metallics enables these companies to effectively market their products to architects and brand owners who seek a consistent, bright metallic appearance, with a sense of depth to the coating that was historically only achieved with liquid coatings.
Improving aesthetic effects and finishes will increasingly enable powder coating companies to take market share from liquid coatings in decorative applications over metal substrates. Most importantly, these companies must focus on delivering superior aesthetics without sacrificing the durability and environmental profile that powder coatings are known for in order to capitalize on these trends.
This copper-colored tab ceiling at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston, Texas) Terminal D was powder coated by Gordon Inc. This aesthetic architecture is an award-winning project for this Bossier City, La., company. Photo courtesy of Gordon Inc.
PFAS-Free Products
Over the past several years, PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) has seemingly become public enemy number one, with various ongoing regulatory discussions and public sentiment, causing many companies to scramble to develop PFAS-free products. Success has been inconsistent, as replacement materials and revised formulations often struggle to achieve the same properties as their more traditional PFAS-containing counterparts.
Significant effort is being directed toward developing formulations that do not include the fluoropolymer resins used in architectural coatings. That said, there are significant concerns regarding the alternative chemistries’ ability to achieve equivalent long-term performance, making it difficult to determine if these materials will eventually be replaced.
On a brighter note, PFAS replacement in additives has become a highly active area of product development, with innovation moving more quickly. For example, powder coatings have long incorporated PFAS-containing additives such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to improve scratch and mar resistance or to create textured finishes. Replacement materials that can impart scratch and mar resistance are relatively well understood, though their usage can result in reduced performance compared to systems that contain PTFE.
Texturizing additives has been one challenging area in PFAS-additive replacement. The tight sand texture produced by PTFE-based additives prove difficult to replicate with alternative materials. Though raw material suppliers have introduced several new technologies that recreate the desired texture fairly well, some of the commercially available alternatives still struggle to achieve a matte finish while simultaneously maintaining a tight, consistent texture. Powder coating manufacturers and raw material suppliers continue to work closely together to optimize these systems.
A Bright Future
Growth in the global powder coating sector is projected to outpace the overall coatings market, with several trends driving opportunities for powder coating companies and raw materials suppliers to increase revenue and market share. Companies that can focus their research and development resources to differentiate in areas such as electrification, aesthetics and the effective use of replacement materials are positioned to shape the powder coating innovation landscape and edge out their competition.
Eric Casebolt is Vice President of the ChemQuest Group Inc. Email Eric at ecasebolt@chemquest.com or visit https://chemquest.com.