Surface

In the Surface Department, surfaces of wood, wood-based or other materials (composites, mineral substrates) are provided with properties which they do not naturally have or do not acquire during the manufacturing process, but which they require for their practical use – be it for a protective function, as a decorative surface or to achieve special functionalities. Solutions are developed in the following work areas; services are offered involving the re-spective technical equipment:

Petra Schulz

Dipl.-Ing. 

Petra Schulz

Head of Departement · Coating · Functionalisation · Cross-linking · Digital printing

+49 351 4662 316

+49 160 9025 4382

send E-Mail

Surface functionalisation

  • Pre-treatment of various substrates for subsequent processing and coating processes
  • Development of suitable printing substrates and printing finishing for applying digital printing
  • Functionalisation of coating systems or surfaces to obtain antimicrobial properties or enhanced light protection as well as resistance to weather
  • Development of coating structures for various substrates and respective technology adjustments
  • Wood-based materials to be coated with laminates

Application technologies

  • Preparation of substrate surfaces by plasma, flame or corona activation
  • Liquid-lacquer coating for various substrates by spraying, roll-coating or doctor-blade coating
  • Applying powder coating (Tribo, Corona, Adimix coating) for new applications
  • Applying various drying and networking technologies to optimise coating properties
  • Applying digital printing technology for direct printing onto various substrates

Reaction to fire

  • Enhancing wood-based products in their reaction to fire, such as wooden flooring, veneers and wall claddings, e.g., for high-end interior design
  • Development of laboratory testing methods and predictive models between large-scale tests on floorings/wall claddings and fire-testing methods on minor test samples or thermal-analytical methods

Analytical and testing methods

Martindale-device for testing of microscratch resistance
Martindale-device for testing of microscratch resistance
  • Test-method development for the mechanical durability of surfaces for furniture and interior design as well as floorings, e.g., abrasion, scratch and impact resistance, proneness to burnishing and soiling
  • Combination of analytical and testing methods, e.g., to determine the weather-resistant behaviour of coatings or aging behaviour, respectively
  • Methods for dimensional-stability testing on floorings and structural furniture parts

Resource modification and development

  • Development of modified bonding-agent components for flame-retardant coating systems
  • Development of novel flame-retardant additives based on renewable resources
  • Development and use of modified vegetable oils in bonding agents for coatings and impregnating agents
  • Modification of natural polymer as additives and as a basis for bonding agents
  • Development of catcher systems to reduce VOC and formaldehyde emissions
  • Investigations into polymeric properties (molar mass distribution, viscosity, other rheological properties)

Services Surface

  • Performance of investigations and analyses on quality assessment and the evaluation of damage patterns in various materials and products
  • Elaboration of product-specific test concepts
  • Characterisation and testing of new powder-lacquering systems and application techniques
  • Evaluation of the application behaviour of lacquers and other coating formulations
  • Selection of suitable technological parameters in UV, UV-LED or electron-beam crosslinking as well as characterisation of uniform curing
  • Modification of coatings by adding suitable additives, e.g., regarding protection from light or scratch strength, and their proof of effectiveness
  • Development and characterisation of suitable printing base materials for various substrates as well as evaluation of the printing quality
  • Selection, application and characterisation of protective layers for printing on various substrates
  • Structural design of floorings and wall claddings with enhanced fire behaviour

Technical equipment

  • Lacquering laboratory equipped with industrially common application methods for liquid and powder lacquers (electrostatic methods, spraying, casting, rolling)
  • Surface activation by flaming or by plasma treatment
  • Possibilities for enforced drying and for UV, UV-Inert, UV-LED as well as electron-beam networking
  • Fire laboratory equipped with large-scale devices (single-flame test (DIN EN ISO 11925-2: 2010), radiant-panel test, IMO fire test rig (ISO 5658-2:2006), Non-combustibility furnace)
  • and Laboratory-scale test devices (cone calorimeter (ISO5660:2002) with FT-IR gas analysis (ISO 19702:2006), bomb calorimeter (DIN EN ISO 1716:2010), oxygen index)
  • Digital-print laboratory (single-pass digital printer Jupiter) as well as print preparation and print assessment systems
  • Devices for weather and light exposure, climate chambers and climate cabinets
  • Manifold surface-testing devices for floorings, furniture, dispersion paints and outdoor coatings
  • Analytical equipment for various investigations ( REM/EDX, DSC/UV-DSC, STA (TGA/DSC) with FT-IR gas analysis, chemoluminescence analysis, microindenter, FT-IR spectroscopy (transmission, ATR), FT-IR microscopy)