The research on smart polymers responding to external stimuli such as temperature, pressure, pH, light, electric and magnetic fields has reached advanced levels. Stimuli responsive polymers with hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity are well quoted in literature. This behaviour, however, is not common in paints formulated with pigment and fillers. Even the reported paints involve use of complex polymers and application procedures. In this work we report a novel water-borne paint exhibiting reversible hydrophilic-hydrophobic character with the variation in temperature. The paint was formulated by combining amino functional acrylic polymer dispersion with functionalized pigments and applied by simple conventional techniques such as brush and spray application. Surface analysis studies correlating the switching in wettability with temperature are discussed.
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