The Power of Platinum

PPG CORAFLON® Platinum Powder Coatings: The next evolution in color and sustainability for extrusion

Architects frequently seek new product and material innovations to create building projects of distinction and help their designs stand apart with exceptional aesthetics and performance. 

Powder coatings for architectural extrusions are often an integral part of the planning process. For years, these coatings have effectively elevated city skylines with captivating aesthetics, durable performance and corrosion resistance.

PPG continues to raise the bar for innovations with the launch of PPG CORAFLON® Platinum coatings. This breakthrough powder coatings technology fundamentally alters what is possible with metal building coatings, not just in terms of how they look, but also their application and environmental performance.

PPG CORAFLON® powder coatings have been trusted around the globe to protect architectural extrusions and sheet aluminum for over 20 years and PPG Coraflon Platinum is the next evolution in fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE)/fluoropolymer technology. 

This FGIA/AAMA 2605-compliant coating provides significant improvements over standard FEVE powder in terms of both performance and aesthetic capability.

“For over 20 years, our customers have capitalized on the color and durability benefits of PPG Coraflon powder coatings for architectural and aluminum applications,” said Courtney Jungjohann Deemer, PPG global business director, powder coatings. “PPG Coraflon Platinum takes those benefits to the next level to provide long-lasting durability and performance in an even wider range of colors, textures and glosses to create buildings that will serve as a longstanding testament to exceptional design.”

Long known for leading change within the industry through color and performance innovation, PPG continues to blaze new trails with this innovative, versatile and technologically advanced powder coatings. 

Expanding the Potential of Powder
Architects are increasingly specifying powder coatings for monumental building applications, due in large part to their inherent environmental advantages: solvent-free formulation, reduced weight for shipping, excellent recovery and recyclability rates and single-coat, direct-to-metal (DTM) application.

As a leader in powder coatings development, PPG was recognized for its specific expertise in powder coatings for metal building components in 2009, when it won an R&D 100 Award – the “Oscar” award of global research and innovation – for its introduction of PPG Duranar powder coatings.

These coatings, which were based on the same proven resin technology as the company’s flagship liquid coatings, constituted a major technical achievement because they enabled a coatings manufacturer – for the first time – to economically produce custom colors in the small-batch sizes typically required for individual building projects.

Today, thanks to ongoing investment in the technology, powder coatings for monumental building applications are more versatile, economical and colorful than ever. Nevertheless, PPG Coraflon Platinum powder coatings represent an unprecedented step forward in the protection and beautification of aluminum, architectural and building components. 

Expanded Color and Gloss Range
In today’s ultra-competitive building market, the ability for architects to customize colors and effects for signature building projects has become paramount. Now with PPG Coraflon Platinum coatings, the ability to meet that demand using powder coatings technology has increased exponentially.

While standard FEVE coatings offer a gloss range of 25 to 75, the new technology featured in PPG Coraflon Platinum coatings broadens that spread from 5 to 85. Combined with the ability to add mica, metallic and other special effects, the coating’s gloss range and color palette dramatically expands architects’ freedom of design for window frames, building panels, storefronts and curtainwall components.

Another advantage built into PPG Coraflon Platinum powder coatings is their ability to mimic color and texture. Equipped with a uniquely robust protective layer, these products are especially effective at re-creating the look of anodized aluminum while providing corrosion resistance and long-term colorfastness that is not achievable with the traditional aluminum anodizing.

Durable products such as stone, granite and other natural surfaces also are in vogue for high-end building facades. Unfortunately, their cost and physical weight make them expensive and impractical for many building projects. PPG Coraflon Platinum coatings can help architects and specifiers overcome that challenge. Available in ultra-high gloss and matte finishes not obtainable with traditional FEVE coatings, these next-generation powders can be custom-formulated to replicate the look of terra cotta, stone, granite, cement and other finishes at a lower cost than those materials.

Application and Sustainability Advantages
PPG Coraflon Platinum coatings are not just notable for their aesthetic versatility. They also have high transfer rates that enable them to be applied up to 20% more efficiently than standard FEVE coatings. This is a potentially game-changing advantage for coatings applicators because of the potential cost-saving and sustainability benefits, including:

• Full reclaimability;
• Faster film builds using less material;
• Less overall powder usage; 
• More complete coverage of complex, multi-dimensional building components; 
• Easier application; and 
• Less reliance on highly skilled labor.

Additionally, PPG Coraflon Platinum coatings are formulated without many of the world’s most commonly designated materials of concern, such as triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC), bisphenol A (BPA), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), fluorosurfactants, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and multiple other substances on the Living Building Challenge (LBC) Red List of harmful materials, chemicals and elements. 

Due to the absence of these chemicals and because of their ability to resist corrosion, PPG Coraflon Platinum powder coatings provide a truly global technology platform for metal architectural and building components. Coatings simultaneously meet the American Architectural Metal Manufacturers FGIA/AAMA 2605 specification for weathering in North America, and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) health and environmental mandates in Europe.

Next Steps
Ready to learn more? PPG has a range of educational and technical resources available to support PPG Coraflon Platinum powder coatings, including a digital color card, data sheet and a brochure that explains the advantages of powder coatings and the specific benefits of this new technology. The company also has representatives available to discuss PPG’s ability to customize colors and effects for signature building projects, and to match these colors and effects in both liquid and color platforms and across multiple building substrates.

For more information, visit www.ppgcoraflonplatinum.com or call 800-258-6398.