International. A new polymer based on a trick used by mussels has been developed by the PhD student in Wageningen (Netherlands), Juan Yang. The polymer must be able to let the water-based paint flow better and produce water-resistant coatings.
As is well known, water-based paint is better for humans and for the environment compared to paint with chemical solvents. Water-based paint, however, does not yet have the same properties as chemical-based ones. Paint flows differently than traditional alkyd systems, for example.
Yang has therefore been looking for a polymer that dissolves in water, but creates water resistance after application in his PhD research. She was inspired by the mussel. Being underwater, a mussel can still adhere to surfaces. The mussel first excretes a thread of a specific type of protein from its foot.
Then, a reaction occurs in these proteins, whereupon the thread loses the ability to dissolve in water within a minute and becomes something strong and resistant. Different investigations have already been done in the chemistry of these proteins because of the adhesion properties, but not so much in the insolubility in water. Yang is crumbling this feature in his mussel-inspired chemistry thesis and its applications.
The student was able to create a polymer with this property that reacts in water. One of the requirements for the hardening characteristics of this polymer is the deacidification of its surroundings. This proof of principle offers a starting breakthrough for the paint industry to improve water-based paints. The effects of the polymer on other components of paint, such as pigments and other properties, need further investigation.
The reactive polymer has potential for application in other situations. For example, mussel-inspired chemistry is suitable for the creation of antimicrobial coatings.
