With increasingly strict global environmental regulations and rising consumer awareness of environmental protection, the coatings industry is undergoing a profound green revolution. As an important component of the coating additive system, leveling agents also face historic opportunities and challenges in transitioning from traditional solvent based to water-based.

Traditional solvent based leveling agents contain a large amount of VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which can cause air pollution during production and use, seriously endangering the health of workers. Moreover, the requirements for solvent based products are becoming increasingly strict worldwide, and the compatibility of traditional solvent based leveling agents is relatively poor, making it difficult to meet the development needs of modern new environmentally friendly coatings.

The technology of water-based leveling agents is becoming increasingly mature, and responsive intelligent leveling systems are also becoming more stable. With the promotion of global green environmental laws and regulations, the green transformation of leveling agents is also a necessary path for the transformation of the coating industry.

Of course, in the process of green transformation of leveling agents, we have also encountered many difficulties and challenges. For example, wetting problems caused by high surface tension in water-based systems, differences in leveling behavior during drying processes, and compatibility issues with different resin systems. With the continuous improvement of science and technology, multifunctional composite leveling agents have been developed, which have effectively solved these problems.

In the future, using bio based materials and renewable resources to prepare leveling agents, multi-functional integrated products such as leveling, wetting, and defoaming will be developed. With continuous technological breakthroughs and deepening market awareness, water-based leveling agents will become the mainstream of the industry, injecting new impetus into the sustainable development of the coating industry.