Helping the world stay cool

Cool roofs can also reduce the "heat island" effect in cities and suburbs, a phenomenon that produces higher temperatures in densely populated areas as well as associated smog and carbon emissions.

However, cool roof coatings face a challenge in that they must combine reflectivity with a high degree of flexibility.  “In addition to temperature reduction, it is important that the coating sticks well to the surface and expands and contracts with it as temperature levels change,” said Patrick Wilhelm, Vice President of Colloidal Silica at Nouryon.

Nouryon recently introduced a new solution to address that challenge by combining two of its essential functional additives, Expancel^® and Levasil^®, to elastomeric cool roof coatings.

When produced with Nouryon’s Expancel expandable thermoplastic microspheres, cool roof coatings can bring down the external surface temperature of a building by as much as 15 degrees Celsius (27 degrees Fahrenheit*). “Adding Levasil colloidal silica improves the stickiness and mechanical properties of the coating without sacrificing elasticity and flexibility, and thanks to its self-cleaning properties it also extends the life of the coating,” Wilhelm said.