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New advanced architectural paints, wood coatings, and more generally industrial coatings (for home appliance, for instance) are designed to withstand the intensive use and high-volume traffic of commercial, institutional, and residential buildings. Formulators need to create a wide variety of glossy to matte, smooth to textured finishes with excellent durability, suitable for use in a variety of environments.

Burnish resistance is a key property for matte and semi-gloss coatings. Conventional matting agents have limitations when it comes to formulating burnish-resistant coatings. Orgasol® polyamide 12 powder offers a unique combination of properties, which makes it the additive of choice for the formulator.

Orgasol® PA12 powder key properties for burnish resistance:


  • Unique spherical shape and narrow particle size distribution


  • Wide range of particle size, from 5 to 60 microns

  • Semi-crystalline polyamide 12 : a combination of hardness and flexibility

  • Good compatibility with all binders

Furniture Coating Formulation: A deep matte, clear, burnish resistant topcoat

A 2-component polyurethane deep matte coating formulated using Orgasol® polyamide 12 powders. 

Weight Composition % Formulation Supplier
PART A    
Butyl Acetate 9.2  
SYNOCURE® 213 BA 50 33.4 ARKEMA
OCTA SOLIGEN ZINC 8% 0.1 Borchers
Butyl Acetate 16.2  
Solution CAB 381-2 (10% AB-PMA) 28.7 Eastman
BORCHI® GOL LAC 80 (10% in ethyl acetate 0.2 Borchers
ORGASOL® 2001 UD NAT1 2.5 ARKEMA
ORGASOL® 2002 D NAT1 3.0 ARKEMA
PART B    
DESMODUR® N75 BA 3.2 Covestro
Butyl Acetate 6.0  

Orgasol® and Synocure® are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. Borchi® is a registered trademark of Borchers GmbH. Desmodur® is a registered trademark of Coverstro Deutschland AG

Burnish Resistance Test

In order to evaluate burnish resistance, a coated panel is submitted to rubbing using a felt pad for a defined number of cycles. After rubbing, the gloss of the coating is measured and compared to the initial gloss.  The lower the gloss increase, the better the burnishing resistance.

A comparison of Orgasol® PA12 powder performance with a standard matting agent, silica

Burnish Chart.PNG

formulation-1-silica.png formulation-2-silica-and-op.png formulation-3-op.png

The superiority of Orgasol® polyamide 12 powder is clear as no change of gloss is observed after the burnishing test was performed. Even a partial substitution of silica with the adapted Orgasol® PA12 powders improves significantly the burnish resistance of the coating, while keeping a very low gloss.

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