Kompetenzzentrum Holz GmbH

Ecofurn: Decorative functional coating and/or printing of natural

fibre/wood-based lightweight composites used for eco-friendly

furniture application

M-ERA-NET Conference 2015, Sept. 15, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland

Christoph Jocham, Kompetenzzentrum Holz GmbH, Austria

c.jocham@kplus-wood.at

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Contents

• Ecofurn – Initial situation/Idea – Objectives – Project consortium – Outlook (until 2017)

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Ecofurn - Initial situation/Idea

2009………………………………………………………………………………….2014

Review: Research projects 2009-2014 Powder coating of wood-based medium density fibreboards (MDF)

Continual improvements process capability achieved

©Wagner © Sauter

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• Advantages powder coatings – Eco-friendly coating technology (solvent-free, no evaporation of solvents, „no“ VOC emissions) – Powder recirculation, less overspray – Coating of 3D structures, seamless all around – Immediately further workable – Robust coating (excellent resistance to chemicals, abrasion, scratch…)

• Limits of powder coating of wood-based MDF panels – Niche technology in the decorative coating market for wood-based furniture applications due

to its limitation to MDF substrates – Other wood-based materials cannot be powder coated – Monochrome – MDF is compared to other wood-based materials quite heavy (density 800kg/m³ ) more

expensive

• Needs and interests of the furniture industry and partner companies – Powder coating of alternative wood-based materials (lower density reduction of costs

and resources, raw materials) – Functional printing of polychrome images on these powder coated surfaces

Ecofurn - Initial situation/Idea

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• Considering the needs and interests of the different stakeholders, the objectives are:

Ecofurn - Objectives

• the identification, development and

modification of light-weight natural fibre/wood- based composite materials suitable for powder coating

• the necessary modification of the powder coating process for these substrates

• the development of a functional

decorative digital electrophotographic printing process on these materials for design individualization

©Wagner © Sauter

Sources: Jocham C., Schmidt T. W., Badila M. , Lammer H., Müller U., Wuzella G., Mayer C., Blatter A., Schwarz T., Hauber P., Lücke D., Kandelbauer A., Teischinger A. (2013) Individuelles Design und Pulverlackierung - ein Widerspruch? Holz Heft 3/4 2013, 18-19.

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• 1 Research organization, 1 university of applied sciences, 2 SME´s , 5 large companies

• Participating countries: Austria (funded by FFG), Switzerland (funded by KTI), Germany (no funding possible for this topic) thanks for supporting the project!

Ecofurn – Project consortium

Thanks for your attention!