Enviro-Prime 2000 Coatings Earn PPG Sixth R&D 100 Award in Five Years

28 September 2000

Enviro-Prime 2000 Coatings Earn PPG Sixth R&D 100 Award in Five Years

    CHICAGO--Sept. 27, 2000--PPG Industries receives its sixth R&D 100 Award in five years when its Enviro-Prime 2000 lead-free anti-corrosion electrodeposition coatings for automobiles are honored here tonight as one of this year's 100 most significant technology breakthroughs in new products and processes as determined by R&D Magazine.
    To protect car bodies from corrosion, automakers typically apply coatings containing lead. Previous no-lead products have failed to match leaded coatings in their ability to prevent rust.
    "Enviro-Prime 2000 coatings are the world's most environmentally friendly anti-corrosion coatings as well as the world's first lead-free products to outperform leaded coatings in preventing rust," said Richard Zahren, PPG vice president of automotive coatings.
    In addition to eliminating lead, the new PPG coatings generate lower volatile organic compounds emissions than traditional corrosion inhibitors.
    Zahren said Enviro-Prime 2000 coatings also enable car makers to reduce system costs.
    "They can be cured at lower temperatures, reducing operating costs and increasing productivity," he said. "This new family of coatings also experiences less film weight loss upon curing."
    Conversion to Enviro-Prime 2000 coatings requires no change to the electrodeposition process in which negatively charged car bodies are dipped in tanks of positively charged coatings. Customers switching to PPG's new anti-corrosion coatings don't even have to replace the leaded coatings already in their tanks.
    "They can simply hook up their supply line for Enviro-Prime 2000 coatings to replenish the tank because these new coatings are designed to be compatible with leaded coatings," Zahren said. "They can work in any e-coat tank, on any substrate and in conjunction with any topcoat in the world, so the conversion can take place without interrupting production."
    Enviro-Prime 2000 coatings can also be used in the Power-Prime two-coat electrodeposition system from PPG, which received an R&D 100 Award in 1999.
    Two PPG technologies for the automotive industry won R&D 100 Awards in 1998: Sungate antenna windshield and Enviracryl powder clear coat.
    For 38 years the editors and staff of R&D Magazine, as well as a panel of outside experts, have selected recipients of R&D 100 Awards. Past winners include flash cubes, antilock brakes, automated teller machines and liquid crystal displays.