We believe in advancing sustainability through collaboration.
We partner with customers, academic institutions and other public and private entities to advance sustainable initiatives and technologies.
Beyond our research partnerships, PPG engages broadly with a number of industry associations and stakeholders around the world. Learn more in the Stakeholder Engagement section.
Bio-based primer formulation
Many of our research projects focus on enhancing the positive and reducing the potentially negative environmental impacts of paints, coatings and specialty materials. This includes projects to incorporate renewable and bio-based materials into our products, improving recyclability or reusability, or removing potentially harmful compounds. Our commitment to responsible research and development applies to all legacy and recently acquired product lines.
Through our research partnership with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) and Rowan University, we have identified combinations of bio-based molecules that bring superior performance properties to our coatings, and are working to incorporate these compounds into our products. As one example, the combination of DFDA, a furan-based diamine, and EVAC, a phenolic-based diepoxy, has been shown to improve performance of our aerospace-graded corrosion mitigation primers. We're working with researchers at Rowan University to better understand how these bio-based molecules lead to increased performance, scale up the researchers' capacity to manufacture DFDA and EVAC, and expand the family of renewably sourced resins that incorporate these molecules for superior performance characteristics.
Making coating systems last longer
We work directly with the U.S. Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center (DEVCOM GVSC) and Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Watercraft Inspection Branch (TACOM WIB) to identify combinations of paints and coatings that offer increased durability and performance under strenuous conditions. Over the last year, we have been working with researchers to identify technologies that would extend the maintenance cycles on Army watercraft. Our goal is to develop a dual-purpose coating that would provide both improved abrasion resistance and antifouling properties when applied to both steel and aluminum hulls.
The current coating stacks used on underwater hulls of Army watercraft are frequently degraded by silt, grit and debris blown over the flat bottom of the boat. Boats need to be temporarily taken out of service to re-apply these coatings, which takes time, materials and labor. Extending the maintenance cycle on these coatings will help reduce the upkeep costs and time spent re-applying coatings over the long term.
To this end, our researchers are surveying available technologies and identifying any that could be an improvement over the current state of the art. Through collaborative analytical and modeling efforts, we are conducting research to understand structure-property relationships and address shortfalls in performance. Where they have been identified, we are testing promising combinations of coatings to ensure that the expected increases in performance and durability come through in a real-world setting.
Fostering collaboration across the industry
PPG participates in conferences, industry associations, and related meetings to advance sustainable practices. Our participation not only helps PPG people stay abreast of the newest developments in the industry, but also gives our employees opportunities to explore innovative new collaborations with other industry leaders to solve sustainability challenges.
As an example, in 2022 we hosted a symposium at the 26th Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference titled "Incorporating sustainable components into existing manufacturing systems." The PPG hosted symposium included speakers from academia and industry and featured a presentation from Se Ryeon Lee, PPG group leader, on bringing sustainable coatings science to the automotive battery industry. HY Zhou, Scientist, also presented a talk on incorporation of bio-based materials for adhesive development.
Our approach to research partnerships
External partnerships help us develop more effective and sustainable products to protect and beautify the world.
PPG's external funding team, within our science and technology organization, explores opportunities for PPG to participate in research projects with governmental and educational institutions. Ultimately, our goal in these partnerships is to solve problems in the real world and solve our customers' greatest pain points. We take insights developed through our work with external partners and incorporate them into PPG's internal research and development processes. Across all our partnerships, we focus on developing more effective and sustainable paints and coatings.
We approach our portfolio of research projects and partnerships in much the same way that we do other parts of our R&D processes. We work to identify partnerships that focus on developing paints and coatings that would be considered sustainably advantaged according to our internal methodology. We are currently implementing formal processes to consider sustainability throughout our research pipeline. Learn more about our methodology in the Sustainably Advantaged Products section.