This concept applied to the paint industry reveals that today's ideas and innovations were once concepts used by our ancestors.
by Julián Restrepo*
In the first part of this article the meaning of the "Eternal Return" was explained, which shows that the world is a circle in which events are repeated again and again in a cyclical way. This final part will show other examples applied to our industry and the conclusions we want to reach with the subject.
Pigments, additives and other "green" materials2 forgotten: It is evident that in the great part of the history of humanity, man has had sources and materials of natural origin, both animal and vegetable, since we must remember that the so-called industrial revolution had its origin from the second half of the eighteenth century. That is, synthetic and man-made materials are less than about 250 years old, a really short period, if we compare it with a period of more than 4,500 years in the history of our civilization3.
Until not so long ago, the paint formulator used materials such as lecithin, whose best known form in the world of coatings is soy lecithin (due to its natural source and from which it is mostly extracted)4, as a pigment dispersant/humectant; casein for the formulation of aqueous paints (casein paint is unlike any other water-based paint because of its water-resistant drying [7]); additives derived from castor oil (also known as castor oil), such as some thermo-activatable rheological additives [8], which although still used, paradoxically and even despite their efficiency, many of the young formulators are unaware of their excellent cost/performance ratio; although we should not be unfair, because drying, semi and non-drying oils are still widely used, such as fish, soy, flaxseed, coconut, as well as various fatty acids, among others. for the formulation of alkyd resins of different chain lengths, as well as linseed oil continues to be the binder par excellence for the formulation of oil paints, for example.
But, in line with market trends, environmental legislation, sources of raw materials and performance, we are currently experiencing a resurgence of materials, especially in the field of chemical specialties for the paint sector, where some of them are being developed under the concept of sustainable development and minimization of environmental impact, with which these companies seek to offer the formulator of additive coatings based on renewable raw materials, produced through less polluting processes, taking advantage of other sources, etc., and in general under the "green" concept.
It is clear that although these materials are of synthetic origin, they include and consider in an important way sources of natural origin, being in some cases, versions of a performance not much higher than that of products such as a soy lecithin used as a dispersant / humectant. Isn't this a return to a new return?
Non-forgotten active and inactive pigments: It is also to be said that there are a number of pigments that have not stopped being used, but are experiencing a resurgence because of their inorganic origin and their relative low cost. Such is the case of pigments such as natural black iron oxide and especially the so-called micaceous, which due to its shape and characteristics, becomes an attractive pigment for the formulation of anticorrosive paints; Inorganic pigments such as calcium carbonate, kaolins, talcs, feldspars and others, are being studied looking for new materials and composites, which can provide us with a new world of materials with multiple applications. A new and short example of the constant eternal return that our industry suffers.
Although at this point, we can reflect mentioning that, in some cases, this "non-return to an eternal return" has been favorable, as in the case of obtaining the purple, glitter or purple pigment of Tyre. 5 This pigment was formerly obtained from some species of molluscs and was quoted at very high prices, especially since its obtaining was laborious, requiring up to 12,000 animals to obtain 1.4 grams, which barely covered to dye a cloth cloth the size of a toga.
According to legend, this color was discovered while Helen of Troy was walking with her dog during her captivity. The dog's muzzle was dyed a beautiful incarnate color when chewing the shell of a sea snail [10]. In this sense, our modern version of violet pigments, apparently, causes a lower environmental impact,6 thanks to which we have pigments such as Carbazole Violet (IC, PV-23) and Quinacridone Violet (CI, PV-19).
Conclusions
Some readers may find including a philosophical topic as part of just another coating formulator tool to be of little use. My intention is to show you why, in some cases, an appropriate combination of experience, technical knowledge and other concepts, in this case philosophical, constitute a novel and appropriate combination for the resolution and formulation of coatings in accordance with current market requirements, environmental conditions and future challenges [11].
The uroboros (pictured) symbolize eternal effort, eternal struggle, the cyclical nature of things, eternal return, and other concepts that begin again despite actions to prevent it [12].
The image of the uroboros is scientifically associated with the discovery of the structure of Benzene by August Kekulé. This German chemist was obsessed with his problem. And as he said himself in a speech, after spending years studying the nature of carbon bonds, he found the answer after a reverie in which he glimpsed uroboros, the snake that bites its tail. Benzene turned out to have a ring structure [13].
In this brief writing, an attempt was made to discuss the author's own vision of the philosophical idea of the "Eternal Return", seeking to show it as a tool that leads the formulator to think beyond a certain number of possible combinations and can be considered as part of the method of "lateral thinking" as a technique for solving problems in a creative way, since the process of abstraction in which we visualize that science is doomed to an "Eternal Return" and more specifically, that the formulation of coatings undergoes its own similar process, gives us new elements that leads us to reconsider forgotten ideas, dust off perhaps concepts and formulations that today can provide us with "new solutions" and lead to "new products", but that deep down we know that they are nothing more than ideas previously conceived and developed, which we have updated according to current materials, equipment and technologies.
References
[7] http://www.totenart.com/tienda/caseina-recetas-pintura-a-64.html
[8] Visit, for example, the website of the company Elementis Specialties: www.elementis.com, which offers a wide range of additives for different applications and consult the product applications of the Thixcin® and Thixatrol® lines.
[9] http://www.alimentacion-sana.com.ar/portal%20nuevo/actualizaciones/huevo.htm
[10] http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%BArpura
[11] Visit our website: www.insucolor.com, solutions at your fingertips!
[12] http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur%C3%B3boros
[13] http://jordibusque.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html
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2. Although the term "green" currently takes different interpretations, in our case we refer to those materials from natural sources.
3. If we take as a reference, for example, the dating of the construction of the pyramids of Egypt.
4. Although it has already been discussed above that another natural source, but of animal origin, is the egg yolk.
5. Word derived from the Latin term purpŭra, which in turn comes from the Ionic Greek πορφύρη (πορφύρα in koiné) πορφύρα (porfira), name of the crustacean with which the purple dye of Tyre was made [10].
6. Strictly speaking, in order to establish more clearly the real environmental impact that a material causes in the environment, we must use specialized methodologies for these analyses, such as a Life Cycle Assessment or LCA, for its acronym in English.
*M.Sc. Ph.D. Technical Marketing at Insucolor S.A.S. Medellín, Colombia. More information about this article in [email protected]
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