Shepherd Color Pigments Share 50 Years of Successful Weathering with Kynar 500® Resin

October 2017 marked a truly amazing milestone in coatings technology. Weathering test panels of coatings made with Kynar 500® PVDF resin (Arkema Inc.) and Shepherd Color Company CICP's (Complex Inorganic Color Pigments) have achieved an amazing 50 years of successful weathering. The actual weathering test panels are shown in the photograph above. The top portion of each panel was shielded from weathering, while the remaining portion was exposed to rigorous South 45 degree weathering in South Florida. Hard to see the difference isn't it?

The combination of Kynar 500® PVDF with Shepherd Color CICP pigments is truly complementary since either one without the other by itself would not be able to achieve these remarkable results. The mixed metal oxide pigments are capable of fade-free long-term performance, but PVDF resin is needed to achieve results such as these, since lesser polymer binder systems would deteriorate long before this.

Similarly, with a Kynar 500® PVDF resin-based coating made using less durable pigments in place of CICP's (for example many organic pigments), the PVDF polymer binder will continue to defy weather and ultraviolet rays, but the organic pigment will degrade and color fade.

Below is a picture of the exposure site in South Florida where the test panels were exposed to the South at a 45o angle to the sun, which is perhaps the most rigorous natural weathering / fade resistance test known.

South Florida S-45o Exposure Fence

The next generation of this powerful combination of technologies is already underway with water-based Kynar Aquatec® PVDF emulsion polymer and Shepherd Color Company's revolutionary Dynamix® CICP easy dispersing "Stir-In" color pigment technology. The Kynar Aquatec® technology allows formulators to meet demanding new VOC emission rules without sacrificing performance. The Dynamix® pigment technology allows coating manufacture using a standard high speed disperser - no media milling required - also with no sacrifice in performance.

Kynar 500® and Kynar Aquatec® are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc.