Nippon Paint’s protective coatings have been certified by IKEA, and white Wuxi electrophoretic coatings have begun to be supplied in batches

In May 2023, Nippon Paint Industrial Coatings officially obtained the certification from IKEA, and its white wear-resistant tin-free electrophoretic coatings began to be supplied in batches. This product not only has strong wear resistance, hiding power and yellowing resistance, but also through the more stable tin-free catalytic technology developed by Nippon Paint, the organic tin content of the coating is controlled within 0.1ppm, which is far lower than 2.5ppm of IKEA technical standards. This IKEA certification demonstrates the affirmation of world-renowned furniture and home furnishing brands for the strength and environmental protection of Nippon Paint products, and it is also a powerful practice for Nippon Paint to create more value for customers with its industry-leading innovative R&D capabilities.

Nippon Paint Wuxi electrophoretic coating officially obtained IKEA certification

Demand upgrades, environmentally friendly and high-performance electrophoretic coatings have become a new trend

Under the trend of consumption upgrading, consumers’ demand for high-quality, high-health and high-safety products is increasing. As a global furniture giant, IKEA has higher requirements for paint quality and environmental performance. Previously, IKEA’s coating scheme was green and environmentally friendly powder coating. With the upgrade of product design, the roller parts in the guide rails were eliminated. Adhering to the pursuit of quality and ensuring the user experience of consumers, IKEA has greatly increased the wear resistance requirements of substrate coatings, and raised the testing standard from 50,000 times to 100,000 times. Since the original powder coating was difficult to meet such a high abrasion resistance, IKEA began to consider a new coating solution.

Based on the comprehensive evaluation of wear resistance and environmental protection, IKEA initially selected white tin-free electrophoretic paint as an alternative upgrade solution. Compared with powder coatings, electrophoretic coatings not only have the advantages of high coating utilization rate, but also have the characteristics of low film thickness and low consumption. The film thickness of 20~30μm can achieve better hiding power, corrosion resistance and corrosion resistance. Abrasive, less paint consumption.

However, due to the limitations of its own resin characteristics and production line application conditions, it is difficult for electrophoretic coatings to achieve good hiding power compared with other types of coatings (electrophoretic coatings are directly in contact with pre-treated substrates, and the film thickness is thinner. , easy to have insufficient hiding power) and excellent yellowing resistance, especially in white electrophoretic coatings, this difficulty is more prominent, so conventional electrophoretic coatings on the market are mostly black or dark gray.

On the other hand, tin, as a commonly used catalyst for electrophoretic coatings, has very good stability and cost performance, but as an environmental substance, it is gradually receiving attention and restrictions. The stability of tin-free catalytic technology has always been a pain point in the electrophoretic industry. Environmental protection is more stringent than the European Union’s “ROHS” and “REACH” standards: the organic tin content is required to be less than 2.5ppm, and bisphenol A substances have no migration. To meet IKEA’s requirements for organic tin content, product technology needs to be improved .

The white appearance with both hiding power and yellowing resistance, strict environmental protection requirements, and IKEA’s 100,000 times of abrasion resistance test, means that the test of electrophoretic coatings has been increased layer by layer.

Leveraging its advantages, Nippon Paint creates high-quality coatings with its own technology

Based on precise insights into the home furnishing industry, as early as the beginning of last year, Nippon Paint Industrial Coatings began to upgrade its product package to meet the needs of electrophoretic coatings. Nippon Paint makes full use of its technical advantages in the electrophoresis industry to develop a more stable tin-free catalytic technology, which controls the organic tin content of the coating within 0.1ppm, far exceeding IKEA’s technical standards, and greatly improves the “environmental protection and cost performance” of the product. Under the promotion of Zhejiang Juxin Technology Co., Ltd., one of the IKEA hardware suppliers, the three parties work together to promote the green upgrade of the upstream and downstream industrial chains and enhance the research and development and application of high-quality coatings. In December last year, Nippon Paint’s white wear-resistant electrophoretic coating passed the verification of a small sample at the IKEA factory. The results showed that there was no visual difference after 100,000 wear resistance tests, the color difference ΔE ≤ 1.5, and no migration of bisphenol A substances. Organotin was below the detection limit, and all indicators successfully passed the IKEA testing standards.

Libang white wear-resistant Wuxi electrophoretic paint is tested at the customer site

At the same time, Nippon Paint Industrial Coatings also held a product exchange meeting with the senior management of the Swedish headquarters. Nippon Paint showed customers the successful application of white wear-resistant electrophoresis products in Mitsubishi Elevator, Hitachi Elevator, Alice Life Hall and other industry leading enterprises. The Wuxi upgraded version of IKEA rail components has also passed third-party and IKEA field tests. After comparing the sample paints of several paint suppliers on site, IKEA finally decided to use Nippon Paint’s white wear-resistant tin-free electrophoretic paint. In May of this year, it was officially certified and licensed by IKEA, and the painting was launched in batches.

Driven by innovation, Nippon Paint works with partners to promote high-quality development

This certification and batch supply is not only the recognition of Nippon Paint’s product level, but also the result of long-term exchanges and cooperation between the two parties.�. Nippon Paint has long been centered on customer needs, and based on industry insight, has given full play to its own technological innovation and product strength, insisted on practicing the green concept, provided high-quality coating solutions, and joined hands with industry partners to promote a new era of high-quality development. In the future, Nippon Paint will continue to practice the brand values ​​of “achieve customers, lead innovation, cooperate to win, and encourage struggle”, and will continue to increase investment in scientific research and innovation in strategic cooperation to bring more high-quality products to customers and end users in the home furnishing industry and services, together with partners in the home furnishing industry to refresh a beautiful living space.