WoodBioCoat

WOODBIOCOAT aims at the development of the appropriate technology for the synthesis of novel waterborne polyurethane coatings based on polyols from renewable sources to be utilized by the furniture and woodworking industries. The coatings will have optimized properties and they will be consistent with the environmental demands concerning the reduction of use of organic solvents.

Moreover, they will respond to the technological and economic demands of the European and international market. There is a great need to develop improved water-based wood coatings, which meet European legislation and satisfy application-related requirements and end-user demands. In the framework of the project, the design, synthesis and characterization of waterborne wood coatings will be performed, their properties will be optimized and their production will be extended on a pilot scale. Polyurethane dispersions will be synthesized utilizing the appropriate commercially available polyols from renewable sources and their mechanical, thermal, surface and viscoelastic properties will be evaluated. The optimum dispersions will be utilized for the development of coating formulations for different wood surfaces. The best systems will be further used for pilot scale production and their properties will be compared to the ones synthesized on a laboratory scale. Finally, a techno-economic feasibility study will be performed to assess a potential investment for the industrial production of the optimum novel products.