Effect of water drying conditions on the surface property and morphology of waterborne UV-curable coatings for engineered flooring

UV-curable coatings are widely used on wooden materials such as flooring and furniture, because they have excellent properties, including high hardness, gloss, mar and chemical resistance, and are also environmental friendly, containing no solvents. Recently, waterborne UV-curable coatings have been studied as a viable alternative, since solvents are added to spray applications to lower viscosity. We investigated the effects of water drying conditions on the surface properties and morphology of waterborne UV-curable coatings at the flash-off step. Temperature conditions studied were 22 °C, 50 °C, and 80 °C, with various drying times. We evaluated surface properties such as pendulum hardness, pencil hardness, and adhesion strength. Also observed was surface morphology, comparing surface properties using optical microscopy after drying and UV-curing. Insufficient drying caused cracking, peeling and blistering at the surface of a cured coating. Sufficient drying was very important for the best application and ideal surface morphology of waterborne UV-curable coatings.