EVERYTHING YOU NEED
TO KNOW ABOUT
PROTECTIVE COATINGS

Get The Most Durable Surface Protection For The Toughest Conditions With ArmorThane.

Protective coatings are used to shield structures from weathering and abrasion by functioning as a highly resistant barrier between surface materials and external stressors such as physical impacts, chemical corrosives, or UV radiation. They can be applied to almost any surface including wood, concrete, metal, and plastic, and offer different protective capabilities depending on the type of coating material and the quality of its application. Since their initial development, protective coatings have only grown in popularity for wide ranging applications, and are a critical technology in both industrial and commercial sectors to achieve safer and more cost-effective operations.

WHAT ARE PROTECTIVE COATINGS?

Protective coatings are a type of advanced materials technology that uses specialty polymer formulations to coat surfaces in a thin layer of durable material. Once applied, treated surfaces will strongly resist weathering and abrasion to extend the lifetime and improve the safety and reliability of critical tools and infrastructure. Their protective capabilities depend on the type of coating material, which each offer distinct advantages and drawbacks, like being highly abrasion resistant but susceptible to corrosion, or providing robust moisture resistance but discoloring when exposed to UV radiation.

TYPES OF
PROTECTIVE COATINGS

Today, there exist many different types of protective coatings, each leveraging the strengths of different material technologies for optimal performance in different applications. Some types of protective coatings are highly specialized and see use only in niche applications, while others are highly versatile and are employed in many different environments. The latter group is represented by only a handful of different types, and constitutes the majority of protective coatings.

POLYUREA AND POLYURETHANE COATINGS

Polyurea and polyurethane coatings are known for their exceptional abrasion resistance and robust durability, which see them used almost ubiquitously across different industries. They’re highly flexible in their formulation, and have some of the most tunable physical properties of any type of protective coating. In general, their different formulations can be divided into two types - aliphatic and aromatic. These terms refer to the specific chemical structures held by each type, which is an important distinction, as their structural differences result in some key differences. Most importantly, this includes a difference in their UV-resistance. Aliphatic formulations are highly UV-resistant, making them perfect for outdoor applications, while aromatic formulations are highly susceptible to UV radiation that may lead to discoloration, thankfully without affecting their protective abilities. They can be applied to almost any material, cure within minutes, and exhibit a healthier environmental profile than almost any other type of protective coating. There’s no denying it - polyurea and polyurethane technology offers some of the best protective coatings for almost any application.

EPOXY COATINGS

Epoxy is another widely used coating material preferred in many settings for its exceptional adhesion, strong chemical resistance, and lasting durability. They form a tough protective layer that effectively resists moisture, corrosive chemicals, and physical abrasion, and can be applied to many different surface materials including concrete, steel, and other metals. Epoxy protective coatings take longer to cure compared to other types of protective coatings, but make up for it with their superior hardness and compressive strength. Thanks to these properties combined with their flexible and aesthetic finish, epoxy is heavily used in manufacturing plants, warehouses, marine settings, and other environments where effective protection requires a healthy combination of chemical and physical resistance.

POLYSILOXANE COATINGS

Polysiloxanes are amongst the newest types of protective coating materials, and provide many of the same properties as earlier technologies including strong abrasion resistance and lasting weathering prevention. Polysiloxanes are also highly UV resistant and can perform at significantly higher operating temperatures compared to traditional alternatives. However, for all of its benefits, polysiloxanes are less flexible than materials like polyurethane, and can’t provide the corrosion resistance offered by technologies like polyurea. Their more recent entry into the market also means that their long-term performance is less established, and that the protective coatings industry is less experienced working with these materials.

ZINC-RICH PRIMERS

As their name may suggest, zinc-rich coatings are a generic type of coating that comprise other coating materials combined with large quantities of elemental zinc. Zinc-rich protective coatings are often called “zinc-rich primers,” as the zinc used in their formulation makes them perfect as the first layer in multi-coat systems. The inclusion of zinc provides zinc-rich protective coatings with galvanic protection, absorbing any potential corrosion that would otherwise degrade the coated surface and risk structure damage and failure.

POLYASPARTIC COATINGS

Polyaspartic coatings are a specialized type of polyurea-hybrid material that combine the properties of polyurea with other protective coating materials like polyurethane. The result is a highly robust protective coating with improved hardness, flexibility, and durability, along with the usual benefits of polyurea or polyurethane like versatility in application and unmatched longevity. Also like other polyurea or polyurethane formulations, polyaspartic coatings are more environmentally friendly than many traditional alternatives, and offer a budget-friendly but highly effective solution for many applications.

WHAT ARE PROTECTIVE COATINGS USED FOR?

Automotive / Marine

Protective coatings have long been used in automotive and marine applications for their corrosion prevention and strong abrasion resistance. In the automotive industry, they’re used to create truck bedliners for shielding truck beds from rough loading and unloading of abrasive materials, and are more recently being used as bedliner paint for full vehicle protection. Boats, docks, and other marine equipment and infrastructure can similarly benefit from protective coatings’ abrasion and weathering resistance and are used to protect these structures from floating debris and saltwater corrosion and provide a convenient solution for watertight repairs.

CONSTRUCTION

The construction industry is all about putting safety first, and building structures that can stand the test of time. So naturally, protective coatings quickly found a home in the construction industry, where they can help both structures and construction equipment alike to resist weathering and abrasion from countless years under the sun or endless days spent on the jobsite. From flooring and roofing to driveways or even landscaping, protective coatings are widely used in all facets of the construction industry.

AGRICULTURAL

The agricultural industry uses some of the toughest commercial tools and machinery that exist, which face highly demanding conditions and a high cost of failure. The industry also faces complex storage and facility management challenges, as uncontrolled erosion or damaged irrigation channels can risk expensive operational downtime that contributes to food insecurity. Protective coatings can help keep agricultural equipment and facilities safe to help our farmers provide the most basic of human needs.

INDUSTRIAL

Protective coatings and industrial coatings are almost synonymous as they’re so widely used across industries to protect industrial equipment and infrastructure. This includes industrial flooring, secondary containment systems, sewer and wastewater facilities, and pipelines, among countless other industrial applications. Their strong weathering and abrasion resistance are perfect for managing the harsh operating conditions in many industrial environments which has seen their application for wide ranging industrial applications.

Military

Protective coatings are one of many tools in the military’s defensive arsenal for keeping soldiers, military equipment, and military infrastructure safe. Their most important role is in blast mitigation, where they can help absorb explosive impacts that safeguard the lives of our servicemen and the often incalculably expensive weapons technology stored at military sites. Protective coatings can also be used for more specialized military applications, including radar absorbance or camouflage, where they can absorb probing radiation instead of reflecting it back to enemy receivers.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are the main benefits of using protective coatings?

Protective coatings provide exceptional resistance to physical wear, corrosion, UV radiation, or chemical exposure, allowing coated surfaces to withstand harsh operating conditions without compromising their safe operation. This can dramatically increase the lifespan of treated surfaces, making protective coatings as cost-effective as they are effective at protecting people and property.

What is the best type of protective coating?

While there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for protective coatings, innovations like polyurea spray elastomer technology offer a versatile material solution perfect for most industrial and commercial applications. Polyurea can be quickly applied to almost any material, and provides robust protection against a range of physical and chemical risk factors including high-impact collisions, blasts and explosions, chemical corrosion, and frequent abrasion.

How long do protective coatings last?

With quality formulations and expert application, protective coatings can last up to several decades. They’re engineered to resist harsh operating conditions and demanding environments, so lasting long is fundamental to their function.

Are protective coatings environmentally friendly?

Different coating materials exhibit different environmental profiles, with some posing serious risks to the environment, and others being highly safe in most environments and ecosystems. Technologies like polyurea are 100% solids, solvent-free, and VOC-free, making them far more sustainable than traditional alternatives like epoxy.

LEARN MORE ABOUT
ARMORTHANE PROTECTIVE COATINGS

ArmorThane has been a leader in the protective coatings industry for over 35 years. We manufacture, apply, and distribute our specialty formulations directly to our customers and our global network of professional applicators. This makes us a leading full-service operator with the knowledge and experience to tackle any project, big or small. Our polyurea and polyurethane protective coatings are designed to provide the utmost in physical and chemical protection, and we work together with our partners to ensure their success. If you’re interested in learning more about ArmorThane’s protective coatings, contact us today to speak with our team of protective coatings experts. We’re happy to help with anything you need, look forward to hearing from you!

HIGH PRESSURE PRODUCTS

ArmorLiner™

A medium hardness material, with a quick 5 second set time, This is our most useful all around coating, cost efficient with very good physical properties, this material is the most commonly used as bedliner product.

HighLine 510H™

This excellent corrosion-resistant material has superior skid resistance and higher shore hardness. The slightly slower set time allows for a smoother texture application.

HighLine 510™

HighLine 510 is a pure polyurea designed to make the most of polyurea’s moisture resistance in many spray-on applications.

HighLine 610™

The HighLine 610 is our greatest temperature range of application material. This material can be sprayed at very low temperatures without experiencing any detriment to the finished coating and has properties very similar to the ArmorLiner

HighLine 410™

This material is slightly softer than the 310, but as an aliphatic is colorfast. No yellowing or color change. Your whites stay white and your chrome yellows stay brilliant.

UltraBlast™

Exceedingly high tensile and tear strengths allow this material to survive extreme pressures. It also has great adhesion to various construction substrates, which allows it to hold together a structure in very adverse conditions.

SureGrip™

This is a softer material with the greatest elongation properties. Combined with its tensile and tear strength, it adapts very well to multiple substrates and substrates with high movement.

HardCoat™

One of the hardest elastomeric coating we offer. This extremely rigid coating can do everything from coating foam to add rigidity, to spraying on the inside of a mold and holding its shape when released!

FlexGard 75™

This is a relatively soft high pressure material with good slip resistance, it has been used to re-cover conveyor slip rollers at the end of their lifespan.

AquaSafe™

ArmorThane AquaSafe is a fast-curing, ANSI/NSF 61-compliant spray polyurea approved for potable water contact, offering flexibility, 450% elongation, and application in diverse temperatures.

ArmorSeal 100 AL™

ArmorSeal 100 AL is a polyurea designed as an effective waterproofing and roof coating with an aluminized leaf pigment for slightly better reflective properties.

UltraTech™

UltraTech has a very high wear resistance and can be used in heavy industries for general protection and infrastructure longevity.

EnviroThane™

EnviroThane is a very effective coating with low lineal shrinkage; this means that during its curing it does not put stress or strain on long areas of continued spray.

HighLine 200™

This is the high-pressure version of our classic STS-200 material

HIghLine 300™

This is the high-pressure version of our classic STS-300 material

low PRESSURE PRODUCTS

STS 200 – 2:1 Polyurethane

This flexible, impact-resistant product is ideal for seamless membranes in flooring, marine, vehicle, and roofing applications, with a fire-retardant option available.

STS 300 – 2:1 Polyurethane

This durable, low-permeability product excels in abrasion, chemical, and corrosion resistance, ideal for flooring, roofing, containment, marine, and landscaping applications.

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ArmorLine

Sprayed On Coatings

HIGH PRESSURE PRODUCTS

ArmorLiner™

HighLine 510H™

HighLine 510™

HighLine 610™

HighLine 410™

UltraBlast™

SureGrip™

Hardcoat™

FlexGard 75™

AquaSafe™

ArmorSeal 100 AL™

UltraTech™

EnviroThane™

HighLine 200™

HIghLine 300™

Low PRESSURE PRODUCTS

ETS-110™

STS-200™

STS-300™

PLM100™

ArmorFlooring

Rolled or Floor Coatings

ArmorCoat

Top Coat Products

ArmorPrime

Primer Products

ArmorFoam

Polyurethane Spray Foam

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TYLER GLECKLER

I am a chemist with a specialization in nanotechnology and applied materials chemistry. My work has focused on the characterization of optoelectronic materials, namely including semiconductor nanocrystals.

Applications

Automotive / Marine

Construction

Agricultural

Industrial

Manufacturing

Military

Automotive

construction

agricultural

Industrial

Manufacturing

Military

Automotive / Marine

Construction

Agricultural

Industrial

Manufacturing

Military

Coating Products

PROTECTIVE COATINGS

PRO EQUIPMENT

Waterproofing

Protection

Spray Foam

Flooring