The coatings industry has come a long way from brushes and buckets. Over the past 30 years, chemical engineers have formulated innovative polymer resins that have a range of modulus (from high to low), better fire retardancy, low VOCs and faster reaction times. Today's modern coatings, including polyurethane and polyurea, are among the most advanced resins developed. These polyureas, more than any other polymer coating, stand out in their versatility, strength and longevity. They are the next step in the coatings evolution.

 At the same time, advances in coatings technology have also led to the development of spray, injection and rotationally-cast application equipment that also improves the performance of polyureas. In particular, plural component equipment technology has been improved to make spray application easier, more uniform in coverage, applicable at lower pressures (as low as 1,000 psi) and generating less over spray or fogging.

 Polyurea materials have two components: the isocyanates quasi-prepolymer and a resin blend. The resin blend is a combination of amine-terminated chain extenders. Unlike polyurethanes, no polyols are used in the manufacture of polyurea resins. When the materials are mixed together in the application equipment, the isocyanates and the amine resins react to form a urea linkage.

 Introduced in 1989 by the Texaco Chemical Co., polyurea was regarded by many in the coatings industry as an "over-hyped" product with exaggerated features and benefits. True, polyurea systems and technology have many outstanding properties. However, many manufacturers of traditional coating material discounted the claims of polyurea being the "wonder" product; as a result, many manufacturers and end users lost sight of the true advantages of the product.

 Many old-guard coatings manufacturers did not differentiate between polyurethane and polyurea. All coatings, whether polyether amines (polyurea component) or polyester/polyether hydroxyl (polyurethane urethane component) resins, were identified as polyurethanes. Only in the past seven years have many companies differentiated these coatings.

 OEM manufacturers, contractors, engineers and fabricators needed a fast-cure, moisture-insensitive coating system. They required a variety of physical properties, excellent adhesion, smooth surface flow out, superior tensile strength and high abrasion resistance. A polyurea system fit that description. The main physical properties of polyurea explain their success.