Luca Amadeo, Chiara Mantovani – SAFIC ALCAN ITALIA
Eloi Reigh Plazas – WANHUA CHEMICAL
From an architectural and materials perspective, floors are the most heavily stressed surfaces in commercial and industrial facilities. Unlike walls, which mainly face static weathering, floor coatings must resist intense multidirectional mechanical stress. They endure constant impact, shear from heavy traffic, compressive loads from forklifts and carts, and chemical exposure from oils, detergents, and solvents. In such conditions, one component (1K) coatings are inadequate: their linear polymers lack cohesion, causing rapid wear, poor chemical resistance, and delamination.
Long term durability requires two component (2K) polyurethane systems, whether solvent borne or waterborne. Driven by carbon neutral goals and strict VOC regulations, the industry is shifting irreversibly toward sustainable waterborne 2K technologies. Floors in commercial and industrial settings demand coatings able to withstand extreme mechanical abuse and chemical attack, which only crosslinked systems can deliver.
In 2K coatings, durability arises from an irreversible reaction between hydroxyl ( OH) groups in polyacrylic resins and isocyanate (NCO) groups, forming a dense three dimensional network.
Waterborne systems also offer major economic benefits: unlike solvent based coatings that release flammable, toxic vapors and require operational shutdowns, low odor formulations allow renovations during normal activity, avoiding downtime.
However, in waterborne environments, isocyanates also react with water, forming unstable carbamic acid that decomposes into amine and carbon dioxide (CO₂). This creates a trade off. Physically, trapped CO₂ can cause pinholes if the film is too thick. Chemically, the resulting amines react further to form polyurea linkages, which significantly enhance hardness, impact resistance, and chemical durability.
Modern formulation focuses on balancing these effects, maximizing performance while allowing safe gas release. Traditional matte finishes required high levels of fillers like silica or waxes, increasing viscosity, reducing leveling, and causing defects such as settling and burnishing under traffic. Mechanical polishing of surface micro peaks creates unwanted gloss variations.
Innovative self matting technology eliminates this issue by controlling gloss at the molecular level during crosslinking, without solid fillers. By combining tailored polyacrylic binders with specialized polyisocyanate hardeners, precise and durable matte finishes can be achieved with improved application properties and long term performance.
Wanhua’s solutions for flooring
Low-gloss and matte systems (Archsol® 8573 + Aquolin® 278plus): High molecular weight Archsol® 8573 emulsion is paired with low-sulfonate-density Aquolin® 278plus. This lower hydrophilicity forces the hardener into larger micellar domains. During water evaporation, these domains undergo microphase separation and differential volume shrinkage, creating a permanent, microscopically wrinkled surface that scatters light. Because this texture is built directly into the polyurethane backbone, it resists burnishing from heavy traffic. Eliminating silica also ensures absolute optical clarity, letting decorative flakes or concrete stains show through with deep color fidelity.
High-gloss systems (Archsol® 8563 + Aquolin® 270plus): Low molecular weight Archsol® 8563 dispersion pairs with intensely sulfonate-modified Aquolin® 270plus. This hardener self-emulsifies into ultra-fine nanoscale domains, enabling optimal particle packing and flawless self-leveling for smooth, mirror-like reflections above 80 GU at a 60° angle.
Because Archsol® 8573 and Archsol® 8563 share highly compatible copolymer backbones, formulators can continuously blend them at various mass ratios to alter the particle-packing curve, unlocking seamless, predictable gloss tuning across the entire sheen spectrum.
Case study A: Ultra-low gloss / Matte flooring system
The data from this study confirms that the pairing of Archsol® 8573 and Aquolin® 278plus successfully reduces specular gloss to a uniform matte profile around 10 GU at a 60° angle without using any silica matting agent. Because this light-scattering texturing is inherently crosslinked into the polyurethane backbone, the cured film exhibits exceptional resistance to mechanical polishing and burnishing under severe traffic.
Furthermore, by eliminating inorganic powders, the matrix avoids viscosity spikes and settling issues while preserving absolute optical clarity over colored flakes or stained concrete.
Case study B: High-specular gloss / High-fullness floor coating
The test results for this case study validate that the addition of the low molecular weight of Archsol® 8563 with the highly hydrophilic Aquolin® 270plus enables nanoscale self-emulsification and better particle packing. This homogeneous network layout ensures an excellent self-leveling prior to final crosslinking, consistently yielding smooth surface gloss exceeding 90 GU at a 60° angle. This precise molecular control minimizes water interference, mitigating micro-gassing risks while delivering an exceptionally high bubble-free film thickness and improved abrasive resistance.
Wanhua Chemical is active in the research and development, production and sales of a full range of polyurethane products such as isocyanates and polyols, petrochemicals such as acrylic acid and acrylates, functional materials such as water-based resins and specialty chemicals. In 20s25, revenues reached 29 billions USD and there were over 30.000 employees.
Branches are located in 27 countries, with 14 production sites and 7 R&D laboratories.
Safic Alcan Italia is the official Wanhua distributor in Italy for MDI, TDI, prepolymers, polyols, isocyanates derivatives, hydrophilic isocyanates and water-based resins for industrial coating. Safic ALcan is a French distributor of specialty chemicals based in Paris. The company develops and supplies a wide range of polymers, materials and additives for rubber, coatings, adhesives, thermoplastics, polyurethanes, lubricants, detergents, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals industries. With a network of 47 locations strategically located across Europe, the Middle East, North America, South America, Asia and South Africa, the company represents cutting-edge manufacturers around the world. Its highly specialized sales engineers enable Safic-Alcan to provide dedicated technical expertise and high-performance solutions, thus creating long-term partnerships with the majority of formulators and customers.
Safic-Alcan employs over 1.000 people worldwide and generated revenues of 1,018 billions Euros in 2025.
