Fluorocarbon coatings originated in the United States and are known for their super weather resistance, wear resistance, chemical resistance, and stain resistance. They have now become high-end coating products at a high level. Fluorocarbon coatings can be classified in different ways, such as room temperature curing and baking curing; Single component and two-component; Water based and solvent based; Thermosetting and thermoplastic types, etc. Early fluorocarbon coatings were based on polytetrafluoroethylene (PVDF), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and were classified as hot melt coatings that required high-temperature baking, melting, and leveling to form a film. For example, DuPont's Teflon coating belongs to this type of coating, mainly used for the inner walls of rice cookers, electric irons, and high-temperature reactors. This type of coating has excellent performance, but its application process is extremely complex, so its scope of use is greatly limited. Until the early 1980s, Japan's Asahi Glass Company was the first to introduce room temperature curing fluorocarbon coatings. At room temperature, fluorocarbon coatings can be applied to various substrate surfaces using common coating methods such as brush coating, roller coating, and spray coating. This greatly expands the application range of fluorocarbon coatings and makes their daily use possible.

The current usage status of fluorocarbon coatings

Since Japan's Asahi Glass Company launched room temperature cured fluorocarbon coatings, China's fluorocarbon coatings have also experienced significant development in the mid to late 1990s. Due to the fact that fluorocarbon coatings belong to high-end coatings and are relatively expensive, they are commonly used in classic buildings and major projects in cities, which requires higher requirements for coating products and construction. However, there are currently several misconceptions when using fluorocarbon coatings: firstly, using general quality coatings to impersonate fluorocarbon coatings; 2¡¢ Due to the high price of fluorocarbon coatings and cutting corners during construction, the coatings cannot form a good protective coating after application; 3¡¢ The maintenance and wall treatment of the wall are far from meeting the standard requirements; 4¡¢ The relevant construction units lack construction qualifications, construction experience, and construction technology; Fifthly, regarding fluorocarbon coatings themselves, different manufacturers' fluororesins have been found to have significant differences in weather resistance through accelerated aging tests. In fact, the construction technology of fluorocarbon coatings cured at room temperature has been a new topic for nearly 30 years, from the early 1980s to the present. The current difficulty in construction technology is to eliminate color differences and solve the problem of coating leveling. 

Construction of Fluorocarbon Coatings on Building Walls

For the construction of any coating, it is required that the substrate be "dry and clean", and fluorocarbon coatings are no exception. In fact, in order to achieve the ideal construction effect and avoid interference caused by color difference and poor leveling, the control of the following factors is crucial: substrate treatment; Reasonable matching of primer and topcoat; Appropriate construction techniques; Ideal construction tools; Protect the areas that have been constructed and those that have not been constructed, especially for spray painting construction, by dividing the lines. Based on our summary of wall construction, the following construction plans can be selected:

Plan 1: Rigid flat bottom putty for exterior walls, rigid smooth putty for exterior walls, sealing primer, fluorocarbon topcoat;

Option 2: Rigid flat bottom putty for exterior walls, high elasticity crack resistant putty, elastic smooth putty, sealing primer, fluorocarbon topcoat.

For the artistic effect coating system, the following construction schemes can be selected:

Plan 3: Rigid flat bottom putty for exterior walls, rigid brushed putty for exterior walls, sealing primer, fluorocarbon topcoat;

Plan 4: Rigid flat bottom putty for exterior walls, rigid smooth putty for exterior walls, rigid relief putty for exterior walls, sealing primer, fluorocarbon topcoat;

Flatness and separation joint issues of fluorocarbon exterior wall coatings

To ensure that the fluorocarbon coating after construction not only has excellent performance, but also has a beautiful decorative effect, especially for imitation metal fluorocarbon coatings, in order to be comparable to aluminum-plastic panels, special attention should be paid to the flatness of wall construction. The moisture content of cement walls must be below 8%~10% and pH<10. Because fluorocarbon coatings themselves do not have breathability, if the moisture content of the wall is too high, the imitation metal fluorocarbon coating after construction will bubble. According to relevant experience, the flatness after putty construction should be controlled within the range of 1-1.5mm within 1m. In addition, for the construction of large exterior walls, there must be separation joints. On the one hand, in order to facilitate construction and avoid uneven construction over a large area, and on the other hand, to protect different areas during construction, otherwise a good coating effect cannot be formed during spraying construction. Exterior wall coatings with partition joints are easy to overcome the effects of thermal expansion and contraction without cracking, and the partition joints themselves are also channels for rainwater and dust, providing good protection and cleaning for the coating.

Development prospects of fluorocarbon coatings

Due to the realization of room temperature curing, fluorocarbon coatings have made significant progress in recent years, especially in their use on building walls. China's fluorocarbon coatings started relatively late, and coupled with the relatively low level of industrialization in the country's economy, room temperature curing fluorocarbon coatings are mainly limited to metal exterior wall decoration. Compared with developed regions in Europe and America, the usage of fluorocarbon coatings in China is still relatively low. In addition, in order to achieve the 10-20 year service life of fluorocarbon coatings, high weather resistance pigments and fillers are also needed. With the rapid development of China's economy, many outdoor metal components, such as steel components of bridges, docks, and stations, require high weather resistance and corrosion resistance, which has led to a certain market demand for room temperature cured fluorocarbon coatings. At present, there are a certain number of domestic enterprises producing fluororesin. With the increasingly mature technology of such enterprises and the improvement of construction technology of related domestic enterprises, it is believed that the price of fluorocarbon coatings will be more competitive, the market potential will be greater, and the prospects will be broader.