We analyze the novelties in the additives for the manufacture of paints and find that there are different characteristics focused on minimizing processes and improving their performance.
by Duván Chaverra Agudelo
Additives become a fundamental product within the formulation process of a paint, as it has a great influence on its chemical and physical properties and offers several characteristics that improve the behavior of the coating in different ways: they affect viscosity, surface and interfacial stresses, appearance, chemical reactions, to living microorganisms, among others.
Surely the above description is well known by those who daily have some commercial or manufacturing relationship with additives of different types. But, taking advantage of the most recent version of Andina Paint that was made last March in Medellín, Colombia, we spoke with some of the companies that provide this class of products to know the new developments that have been presented in the manufacture of additives for paints, to know how much the manufacturing processes have changed and where we are going with the environmental issue within this area of formulation.
Our first guest makes it clear that the industry is constantly evolving and that this requires being at the forefront of the needs and demand of the sector. "You have to understand that the paint market is very dynamic, because every day there are new challenges in terms of formulation, properties that are required and improvements in coatings. I believe that there are many trends that are marking the creation of novelties, for example nanotechnology, a novel process of which every day we find more additives with materials based on this, "explained Carlos Patiño, sales executive of Inproquim.
The professional adds about this same section that "other innovations are related to having products that are from raw materials from renewable sources. Also within this field we can find novelties in manufacturing processes, on the one hand that are more friendly to the environment and safer and on the other hand, that also allow us to have more technically stable products with more constant properties from batch to batch and with properties within the same additive that their ranges are narrower, in order to have a much more reliable formulation of the paint."
For its part, and from the processes developed by Sygla, its director of marketing and technological development, Omar Ricardo Vera, referred to the trend that is occurring in the manufacture of products that offer a reduction in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
"Basically, the current trend is to decrease VOCs by looking for products to be greener; the use of extenders has become popular, which give certain characteristics such as those provided by titanium dioxide, seeking to reduce costs. Within these pavers we find various classes, for example calcined kaolins and other minerals that are entering the market," explained the representative of Sygla.
On calcined kaolins, Ormar Ricardo is clear in specifying that they need an adequate complement to function properly. "Maybe the explanations given to customers are not complete and it is believed that the extender works in any situation and that is not true, because minimum requirements are needed, for example in the amount and class of titanium that must be. If you are going to use an extender it is important that the other part of the formulation has a good product, because if you are going to make a change of pavers with yellow products or that do not generate a good coverage you are losing money and damaging the quality of the paint. "
Another of the advances that the guest has identified have to do with pH modifiers. "In the past, ammonia was used, which is a product with a very high evaporation capacity, which generates aroma and pollution, and does not give evidence in the pH value. Those that come today already stabilize the pH much better and that implies that the percentage of working efficiency of a dispersant is much higher. As the pH goes down the dispersant can change its properties and the dispersion will not be constant, these modifiers also make the dispersants, and therefore, the final paint is at a good point, avoiding reglomeration processes that generate lumps and can even damage the paint. These pH, because they have vapor pressures up to ten times lower than an ammonia, do not generate aromas and you use amounts 50% lower than what is used with ammonia."
Dow Corning is a company that specializes in silicone additives and to talk about the novelties in this segment we have Cristina Alves Deangelo, who commented the following: "I would like to highlight the additives of multifunctional silicones, since it is a product with several properties, in which you can find defoamers, levelers and characteristics that offer resistance to scratching. This is a novelty, because before it was necessary to use an additive for each of the characteristics I mentioned earlier."
As for the novelties in manufacturing processes, Cristina recognizes that these changes have been directed towards the production of more environmentally friendly technologies. "The main change is associated with the environmental issue. Now we must sell the additives as concentrated as possible, with a low VOC, because the demand demands it. Another important point is the proportion of additives for solvent-based and water-based systems, the latter has increased the demand for environmental issues, there are even types of paints such as architectural ones of which I would say that 90% are water-based, "said Cristina Alves.
Eastman is another additive manufacturer that shared its opinion on new trends. Renan Marcel Urenhiuki, the company's technical assistance and application chemist, stated that "we currently have two cellulose-based polymers (for the automotive market) of low molecular pressure that help to develop a formulation of high solids and low VOC content, which allows to obtain very special properties, such as a rapid drying to the top, an advanced hardness development, the orientation of metallic pigment, better atomization during the application process and better flow and leveling of the paint."
For his part, Paulo Henrique Moda, technical marketing coordinator of additive formulation at Basf, commented on the new proposals that he knows from his experience on this subject. "For the automotive line, dispersants were developed for high-performance pigments for blacks whose additive will increase the properties of this color and are much more compatible with all systems, both for original painting and for repainting. For wood, there are additives that improve scratch resistance, which can be used for UV curing, and water and solvent based. On the subject of VOC reduction, more ecological defoamers are presented."
Errors in formulation
In this sense, the guests describe some cases in which the manufacture of paints fails due to poor execution of the process with additives. For example, Carlos Patiño, Inproquim, highlights that additives, as in any formulation, require a balance of properties.
"In additives, we must bear in mind that excessive use can lead to unwanted effects; for example, when interfacial stresses are modified, phenomena such as excessive foam or craters can occur. When rheological additives are not used correctly, a paint can be obtained whose application properties are not adequate, which may have excessive hanging or poor leveling. Or when synetic additives are misused, you can have paints that are not stable in the container or in the applied film. Painting is always a balance."
Omar Vera, from Sygla, describes another example of errors in the formulation: "A coalescing is a product that must be used in its right measure and that implies that depending on the type of emulsion you are working you use the corresponding amount, for example, if you are working an acrylic vinyl resin that has a minimum temperature X of film formation, the amount you are going to add coalescing is different from the amount you would use in a pure acrylic resin that has a different minimum formation temperature. And that is a mistake in the manufacture of paints, since the amount of additives to be handled is not taken into account and that has a very great influence."
Finally, Cristina Alves, from Dow Corning, also highlights the importance of correctly advising customers: "In silicones for paints we talk about those that are created with organic substitution, with the aim of improving compatibility with the organic resin that is being worked. It is important that we make it very clear to customers that the products we direct for paint application are silicones changed with molecules and thus avoid problems and allow us to generate good results."
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