A POWDER-BASED COATING COMPOSITION, A CURED FILM THEREOF, AND A METHOD OF IMPROVING A COLOR STRENGTH OF THE CURED FILM

The present invention is directed to a powder coating composition and a method. The method improves the color strength of a cured film of the powder - based coating composition. To produce the powder-based coating composition, the method begins by combining a powder-based binder, specifically a resin a nd a cross-linking agent,with a pigment and a surfactant to form a mixture. The mixture is then extruded thereby forming an extrudate of the mixture. The extrudate is cooled and then ground to produce the powder-based coating composition from the extrudate of the mixture. Next, the powder-based coatin g composition is spray applied to a substrate and cured to form the cured film . The surfactant in the mixture improves the color strength of the powder-base d coating composition and the cured film so that the amount of pigment include d in the mixture can ultimately be reduced. Additionally, certain physical properties of the cured film are not compromised.