In the automotive industry, manufacturers and suppliers are working to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions in production. A project with employees of the car maker Audi, BASF´s Coatings division and materials company Covestro has now passed a new milestone - a clearcoat containing a biobased hardener was applied to test bodies of the Audi Q2 under near-series conditions at the Audi plant in Ingolstadt, Germany.
BASF developed the clearcoat using the biobased hardener Desmodur-eco N7300 from Covestro. A total of 70 per cent of the hardener’s carbon content is sourced from renewable raw materials. This innovation reduces the consumption of fossil resources. The clearcoat forms the top layer of the coating system, lending it scratch resistance, a glossy appearance and protection against sunlight and other weather effects.
Matthijs Groenewolt, Head of Clearcoat at BASF, said: “Our new clearcoat helps our customers to reach their sustainability targets, without having to compromise in terms of quality and performance.”
Markus Mechtel, Head of Marketing for automotive coatings at Covestro, said: “Using renewable raw materials in the production of bio-based hardeners helps to conserve fossil resources. At the same time, the biomass, as it grows, captures CO2 in the environment.”
Dr. Matthijs Groenewolt, head of clearcoat and topcoat development Europe at BASF, Dr. Markus Mechtel, head of marketing for automotive coatings at Covestro, and Thomas Heußer, head of materials and process engineering at Audi (from left to right), are pleased about the successful coating of Q2 test bodies under realistic production conditions.
In addition, process steps are eliminated during bio-based raw material production for this hardener, leading to an additional reduction of CO2 emissions.
“The use of biobased raw materials in automotive coatings is still in its infancy," said Thomas Heusser, head of Materials and Process Engineering at Audi. "But the application of the new clearcoat on our existing machines fulfilled all our specifications and delivered promising results. With this project, Audi takes up a pioneering role in this field in the automotive industry.”
After successful coating of test bodies of the Audi Q2, Heusser said: “Even though not all tests required for approval of the coating for use in full-scale production have been concluded, the three companies have taken an important step toward an even more sustainable automotive coating process.”
The Audi Q2 coated with the new clearcoat will be on display at the European Coatings Show 2017, April 4 - 6 in Nuremberg,