Control of resistance properties of water-borne coatings through polymer design

 
In the furniture industry, a major shift is happening from solventborne polyurethanes to waterborne coating technologies. Waterborne one-component coatings offer a large number of advantages, but one main concern has always been that getting the right balance between properties such as final hardness and hardness development and chemical resistance properties is difficult, especially in pigmented systems. This paper describes how polymer design and parameters such as polymer particle morphology can influence the resistance against various chemicals. Examples are given of pure acrylic dispersions, but also of hybrid binder technologies using specific co-binders or additional chemical functionality. Furthermore work is presented on how to optimize the coating formulation in order to obtain optimal coating properties.