FILM-FORMING AID SELECTION TO OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE AND MINIMIZE VOLATILE ORGANIC CONTENT

摘要

Solvents and highly volatile coalescing aids have traditionally been utilized in waterborne coatings applications to assist in the formation of a continuous film. These materials behave like temporary plasticizers. They soften the polymer long enough to allow coalescence and later evaporate from the coating, leaving behind a durable film. While these materials are effective as film formers, they also contribute significantly to the volatile organic content (VOC) of the coating formulation. More permanent film formation aids are significantly less volatile and can be utilized to promote coalescence. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the benefits of incorporating less volatile film-forming aids to lower total formulary VOC. Traditional and new film-formation aid technologies have been evaluated in architectural and industrial waterborne coating formulations to demonstrate advantages. Volatility, low temperature coalescence, freeze thaw stability, blocking resistance, hardness, application and other coating properties are utilized to demonstrate the advantages of this strategy.