{"id":5771,"date":"2017-01-27T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T14:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ulprospector.com\/knowledge\/?p=5771"},"modified":"2022-05-16T14:20:32","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T20:20:32","slug":"pc-resin-coating-catalysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/5771\/pc-resin-coating-catalysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalysis in the resins and coatings industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ReadMany reactions in the resins and coatings industry require a catalyst<\/a>. But what is a catalyst?<\/p>\n

To fully understand this, a brief introduction to thermodynamics is helpful. Reactants in a two-component system, for instance, are at a certain energy level. If the resulting products are at a lower energy level, the reaction is called exothermic<\/strong>. Nice examples are isocyanate\/hydroxyl and acid\/epoxy. If the products are at a higher energy level than the surfactants the reaction is called endothermic<\/strong>. Normally they are not very helpful in the industry.<\/p>\n

In all cases, a so-called activation energy is required, since both reactants and products are stable. During the process, however, a so-called instable intermediate is formed. The energy path has to pass a \u201chump\u201d. This is where a catalyst steps in. It lowers this \u201chump\u201d:<\/p>\n

\"CatalysisTwo phenomena are clearly visible.<\/p>\n

First of all, the reaction pathway when using a catalyst has more than one maximum. This is due to the fact that the catalyst lowers the energy level of the intermediate by dividing the process over several steps:<\/p>\n