Advanced organic thixotropes for modern solvent based systems

 
Conventional castor oil derived organic thixotropes are very efficient in providing rheology control for a wide variety of solvent based systems. These additives need to be carefully dispersed with an appropriate amount of solvent, while control of shear and temperature during the paint manufacturing process is important to avoid undesirable additive seeding. Although next generations of amide based additives still require careful optimization of paint processing characteristics, these rheology control agents are less prone to seeding due to over processing or elevated storage temperatures and also offer great compatibility with a wide range of solvents. This paper describes the development of easy and quick to activate thixotropes suitable for use in a variety of systems that contain little or no solvent. We will discuss the development of novel additives that allow for faster throughput at the manufacturers' plant site by means of quicker thixotrope activation at lower processing temperatures.