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Home / News / Industry News / Leveling Gets Worse After High-Temperature Baking? Leveling Agent Heat Resistance Cannot Be Overlooked
Industry News
Industrial Baking Coatings · High-Temperature Leveling · DH-4310
In industrial coatings and baking lacquer applications, coating films typically require higher-temperature baking cure. Therefore, high-temperature systems demand more from leveling additives than simply "can it level" — the stability of the additive during baking and its effects on recoatability, adhesion, and film surface performance all need to be considered.
Film Not Flat After Baking
During high-temperature cure, if system flow adjustment is insufficient, orange peel and texturing surface defects can remain.
Leveling Declines After High Temperature
Some additives have insufficient stability at higher temperatures — their surface-regulating function may be affected as baking conditions change.
Recoatability Affected
Some highly surface-active additives improve film flatness but may also change the film surface state, causing adhesion of subsequent coatings to be affected.
Surface Properties Difficult to Balance
Leveling, gloss, slip, scratch resistance, and anti-blocking are interrelated — focusing only on one may cause changes in others.
Why High-Temperature Systems Demand More from Leveling Agents
For high-temperature baking systems, the leveling agent also needs to survive the entire heating and cure process. If the leveling agent has insufficient stability in the high-temperature phase, the surface-regulating effect that was good during application may change after baking. Conversely, if the additive surface activity is too strong, it may affect subsequent coating wetting and adhesion. Therefore, when selecting leveling additives for high-temperature baking coatings, balance between heat resistance stability, leveling, wetting, recoatability, and surface performance is required — not simply pursuing stronger leveling effect.
DH-4310: Polyester-Modified PDMS Leveling Agent
DH-4310 is a polyester-modified polydimethylsiloxane organic silicon leveling additive, primarily targeting coating systems that need to undergo higher temperature baking. Its heat resistance is good, capable of maintaining stability under approximately 230°C use conditions — helping to maintain better surface-regulating effect during high-temperature baking. The product has good compatibility with multiple coating systems and can help improve film flatness while balancing recoatability.
Beyond leveling, DH-4310 can also improve substrate wetting state and assist in improving coating adhesion. In terms of film surface performance, it can further improve slip feel, gloss, scratch resistance, and anti-blocking. Recommended dosage: 0.5%–1.0% of total formulation.
| Heat Resistance | Stable under approximately 230°C — maintains surface-regulating effect throughout high-temperature baking |
| Leveling & Film Flatness | Helps improve flow during baking, reducing orange peel and surface texture defects |
| Recoatability | Good compatibility with multiple systems — reduces interlayer adhesion issues in multi-coat processes |
| Substrate Wetting | Improves substrate wetting state, aiding adhesion development |
| Surface Performance | Improves slip feel, gloss, scratch resistance, and anti-blocking of the cured film |
When selecting leveling agents for high-temperature systems, heat resistance, compatibility, adhesion, and recoatability must be comprehensively considered alongside leveling effect, to achieve more stable film surface performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
At what baking temperature do ordinary leveling agents typically begin to show performance loss?
Unmodified PDMS-based leveling agents generally remain stable up to about 150–180°C but may begin to show volatilisation or structural change at higher temperatures. Polyester-modified types like DH-4310 extend this stability ceiling to approximately 230°C, making them suitable for coil coating, appliance baking, and industrial baking systems operating in this temperature range.
Can DH-4310 be used in waterborne baking systems as well as solventborne?
DH-4310 is primarily characterised and recommended for solventborne high-temperature baking coating systems. For waterborne baking systems, compatibility should be evaluated through a small-scale trial, as the interaction between the polyester-siloxane structure and waterborne resin emulsions differs from the solventborne environment.
