To protect leather products, for example products from the clothing-, car- and aircraft industry, against UV and damage due to use, a coating is applied. These coatings are currently still mainly fossil based and often not degradable or recyclable. Stahl from Waalwijk, a producer of these coatings, would like to switch to the production of more sustainable coatings. Besides the development of renewable based coatings they also want to development coatings that are biodegradable.
Stahl from Waalwijk has approached the Center of Expertise Biobased Economy to explore this topic. This project investigates the degradability of existing coatings, and based on the results of this research and additional literature study, it is examined what makes coatings more or less degradable. Based on the outcomes of this first study, a next step could be to examine how the biodegradability of existing coatings can be improved and new (fully) degradable coatings can be developed.
The research is conducted within the framework of the TKI BBE Mini PPS voucher scheme.
