New generation decorative paint technology

The growth of waterborne paints in the higher performance decorative paint segments (like in high gloss paints, trim paints and also in stains and varnishes) has been slowed down due to a lack of open time, rheology, film build and scratch resistance. Over the years the improvement of the open time has been an intense area of research, but to date the typical paint rheology and brushing performance of a solvent based paint could not be achieved in a waterborne system. In this paper very low viscosity oligomers are presented as a solution for the open time problem. These oligomers remain liquid even after the evaporation of water and are self-crosslinking to achieve good final properties. The oligomers are combined with a dispersed polymer to reduce tack free times of the resulting coatings and to increase the rate of development of the properties. A model system is described where this effect is demonstrated.