A NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, UV-RESISTANT, WATER-BORNE ANTICORROSION PAINTS

Organic solvent-borne primers and topcoats are used extensively for the protection of structural steel, both in new construction and in maintenance work. However, growing environmental pressure to reduce organic solvent usage is focusing more attention on the development of water-borne coatings. This article deals with the development of a latex binder that can be used to formulate one-pack water-borne anticorrosion paints. In this binder, a hydrophobic, highly-branched substituted vinyl ester monomer is copolymerized with acrylic monomers. The properties of resistance to hydrolysis and hydrophobicity make the vinyl esters especially suitable for high-performance latices (HPLs). These HPLs are, therefore, potential candidates for protective as well as decorative coatings. The work described herein demonstrates that the inclusion of vinyl ester in acrylic binders improves the performance of the polymers by enhancing hydrophobic character. The resulting polymer shows adequate water repellency and barrier properties when formulated in anticorrosion primers, and the promising salt spray results observed, combined with the UV resistance, might open various possibilities for these HPL binders, such as one-coat anticorrosion paints.