The development of polyaspartic is a representative evolution of high-performance materials. Its advancement has consistently focused on addressing the shortcomings of traditional polyurea—primarily extremely short gel times, high sensitivity to temperature and humidity, and strict equipment requirements—while pursuing superior comprehensive performance and construction convenience.
Phase 1: Initial Technology and Concept Validation (Late 1980s – Early 1990s)
1. Maturity and Limitations of Traditional Polyurea
Traditional aromatic polyurea, developed and commercialized by Texaco (later acquired by Huntsman) in the 1980s, featured extremely fast reaction speeds (gel times measured in seconds), excellent physical properties (elasticity, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, waterproofing), and good thermal stability.
However, the extremely short gel time (typically within seconds to tens of seconds) demanded high-temperature, high-pressure impingement mixing equipment and highly skilled operators, making large-area, complex applications or repairs very difficult. Additionally, aromatic polyurea was prone to yellowing, limiting its use in applications requiring high weather resistance.
2. Searching for Solutions: Slowing the Reaction
To overcome the rapid reaction issue, chemists began exploring methods to “tame” the aggressive reaction between amines and isocyanates.
Key Breakthrough: The Invention of Polyaspartic Ester.
Core Concept: Shield the highly reactive primary amine (-NH₂) via Michael addition reaction to convert it into a less reactive secondary amine.
Technical Approach: Specific aliphatic primary amines (such as cycloaliphatic amines) were reacted with maleate or fumarate esters to create a new secondary amine-terminated resin—this is polyaspartic ester.
Technology Pioneer: Scientists at Bayer (now Covestro) achieved this breakthrough around 1990 and filed the fundamental patent. By selecting different primary amine structures (R1, R2) and adjusting molecular weight, they could precisely control steric hindrance and electronic effects, significantly reducing the reaction rate with isocyanates (especially aliphatic HDI trimer).
Phase 2: Commercialization and Performance Optimization (Mid-1990s – Early 2000s)
1. Bayer Leads Commercialization
Based on its proprietary polyaspartic ester synthesis patent, Bayer launched the first generation of commercial polyaspartic ester resins (such as Desmophen NH 1420) around 1995, matched with its own aliphatic polyisocyanates (such as the Desmodur N series), forming the initial polyaspartic system.
Core Advantages:
- Significantly Extended Pot Life: Extended from seconds (in traditional polyurea) to several minutes or even tens of minutes (adjustable), allowing roller or squeegee application and reducing dependency on specialized spray equipment.
- Low VOC / High Solids: Compatible with high-solids or solvent-free formulations, meeting increasingly stringent environmental regulations.
- Excellent Weather Resistance: The aliphatic system resolved the yellowing issue, offering outstanding gloss and color retention.
- Strong Physical Properties: Maintained polyurea’s high elasticity, wear resistance, chemical resistance, and adhesion.
- Reduced Sensitivity to Temperature and Humidity: Less affected by environmental moisture compared to traditional polyurea.
2. Early Application Development
Early applications mainly targeted areas requiring high weather resistance and decorative finishes, such as high-performance industrial floor topcoats (replacing yellowing-prone polyurethane topcoats) and steel structure anti-corrosion topcoats.
The material was also tested in fast-turnaround environments (like parking lots and factory workshops) thanks to its relatively quick curing (surface dry in tens of minutes to a few hours, fully cured within hours to a day).
Phase 3: Performance Expansion and Market Growth (Mid-2000s – 2010s)
1. Continuous Resin and Formulation Iteration
Bayer/Covestro: Continuously introduced new generations of polyaspartic resins (such as Desmophen NH 15xx, 16xx series), further optimized through molecular design:
- Extended pot life while maintaining fast curing.
- Balanced flexibility and hardness.
- Improved leveling and reduced viscosity (for easier application and higher solids content).
- Enhanced chemical and thermal resistance.
Competitors Emerged:
- BASF: Introduced its own polyaspartic resins (Laromer series) around 2003, becoming a major competitor to Covestro.
- Huntsman: Leveraged its deep experience in polyurea and isocyanate chemistry to release related products (e.g., Jeffamine polyether amines for modification and matching isocyanates).
- Feiyang Protech: As the leading polyaspartic company in China, Feiyang Protech heavily invested in R&D in the early 2000s and quickly launched competitive polyaspartic resins and aliphatic isocyanates, breaking foreign monopolies and rapidly gaining market share through localization advantages.
2. Significant Application Expansion
- Wind Energy: Became a primary coating for wind turbine blades due to superior weather resistance, wear resistance, wind erosion resistance, and fast curing to meet manufacturing efficiency demands.
- Flooring: Expanded from high-end topcoats to mid-coats and primers, developing full-system solutions with varying hardness, flexibility, and color, widely used in industrial plants, commercial spaces, hospitals, and schools.
- Infrastructure and Corrosion Protection: Increased applications in heavy-duty corrosion protection for bridges, pipelines, storage tanks, port facilities, particularly where fast application and maintenance are required.
- Transportation: Used for protective coatings on truck chassis, containers, train components.
- Emerging Fields: Explored use in marine coatings, sports facilities, creative decorations, and more.
Phase 4: Diversification, High Performance, and Sustainability (Late 2010s – Present)
1. Highly Refined Formulation Technology
- Extreme Performance: Developed ultra-wear-resistant, high-temperature-resistant (e.g., for exhaust pipes), low-temperature-toughened, and highly chemical-resistant (acids, alkalis, solvents) specialty polyaspartic coatings.
- Functionalization: Introduced coatings with conductivity, anti-slip properties, self-cleaning, and flame retardancy.
- Improved Application Tolerance: Created formulations with reduced sensitivity to temperature and humidity, longer pot life, and adjustable curing speed to suit more diverse application environments.
2. Focus on Environmental Protection and Sustainability
- Solvent-free / Ultra-high Solids: Continued to increase solids content, reducing or eliminating VOC emissions.
- Waterborne Exploration: Although technically challenging (due to isocyanate-water reactions and slow drying), some companies and research institutes have introduced prototype or early commercial waterborne polyaspartic products to meet the strictest environmental regulations.
- Bio-based Raw Materials: Explored the use of partially bio-based polyols or amines to reduce carbon footprint.
3. Rise of Chinese Enterprises and Intensified Global Competition
- Feiyang Protech: Became one of the most important global players in the polyaspartic field, holding numerous patents and comprehensive solutions in resin synthesis, formulation, and application, with product performance comparable to international leaders.
- Other Chinese Companies: Firms like Wanhua Chemical and Huafon Group are actively expanding, driving technical progress and cost optimization.
- Global Landscape: Covestro, BASF, Huntsman, PPG, Sherwin-Williams, Nippon Paint, and other international giants are now in fierce competition with Chinese companies, jointly pushing technological advancements and market development.
4. Mature Application Techniques and Equipment
- Specialized Two-Component Spray Equipment: Manufacturers like Graco and GlasCraft have continually refined equipment to better suit the viscosity, mixing ratio, and gel time of polyaspartic coatings.
- Standardized Manual Application: Rolling and squeegee application techniques have become more standardized and widely adopted.
- Advances in Low-Temperature Application Technology.
Summary: Development Path of Polyaspartic
- Problem-Driven: Directly aimed at solving the poor workability of traditional polyurea.
- Resin Breakthrough: The invention of polyaspartic ester was the foundation, with resin structure design being the key to performance control.
- Continuous Performance Iteration: Evolved from simply extending pot life to consistently pursuing better physical properties, weather resistance, chemical resistance, functionality, and workability.
- Broadening Application Fields: Rapidly expanded from industrial floor topcoats to wind energy, heavy-duty corrosion protection, infrastructure, transportation, construction waterproofing, adhesives, and more.
- Environmental Innovation: Driven toward solvent-free, ultra-high solids, waterborne, and bio-based solutions.
- Rise of Chinese Enterprises: Chinese companies have successfully moved from technology import to independent innovation to global leadership, reshaping the global industry landscape.
The development of polyaspartic continues, with future trends focusing on higher performance, greater sustainability, expanded functionality, lower costs, and easier application to meet ever-evolving market demands.
Feiyang has been specializing in the production of raw materials for polyaspartic coatings for 30 years and can provide polyaspartic resins, hardeners and coating formulations.
Feel free to contact us: marketing@feiyang.com.cn
Our products list:
Contact our technical team today to explore how Feiyang Protech’s advanced polyaspartic solutions can transform your coatings strategy. Contact our Tech Team
