Paint is used to decorate, protect and prolong the life of natural and synthetic materials, and acts as a barrier against environmental conditions.
Paints may be broadly classified into Decorative paints, applied on site to decorate and protect buildings and other objects, and Industrial coatings which are applied in factories to finish manufactured goods such as cars.
Figure 1 Contents of a white gloss (alkyd) paint and a white matt emulsion (acrylic) paint. |
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Paints contain:
The binder (resin) and solvent together are sometimes known as the vehicle. The binder may be dissolved as a solution or carried as a dispersion of microscopically small particles in a liquid.
Depending on the type of paint and intended use, additives may include:
Paints are formulated according to their proposed use - primer, undercoat, special finishes (matt, gloss, heat resistance, anti-corrosion, abrasion resistance). The pigment powder is broken down into individual particles which are coated by and dispersed in the binder (resin) - known as 'wetting out'. Solvent is then added to give the required consistency. Each batch of ingredients is thoroughly mixed in large, stirred containers with the required additives (Figure 1). Amounts ranging up to 40 000 dm3 of paint may be made in a single batch.
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This unit discusses the most commonly used binders followed by the pigments.
The three most important binders (resins) used in modern paints are:
The binder in many emulsion paints is based on homopolymers or co-polymers of ethenyl ethanoate (vinyl acetate) and a propenoate (acrylic) ester.
Ethenyl ethanoate is manufactured by passing a mixture of ethanoic acid vapour, ethene and oxygen over heated palladium(ll) and copper(ll) chlorides:
Ethenyl ethanoate and an acrylic ester (for example, methyl 2-methylpropenoate) are then co-polymerized to form a random array, in which these groups link into a linear chain: