Understanding film formation in coatings based on polymer dispersions stabilized by acid functional oligomers

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Environmental concerns are driving changes in the coatings industry. For example, waterborne coatings such as latex paints still contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as additives to promote film formation. VOCs in the atmosphere promote smog formation and create other health concerns. The challenge is to reduce or eliminate the VOC content of these paints and still maintain or improve the performance of the coating. This project is based on a discovery by our partners at BASF that certain acid-rich oligomers (AROs) that they synthesize in a solvent-free way can help to overcome these problems. These AROs are added to a latex formulation in place of some of the VOCs, improving the resistance of the coating to staining and marring, but also reducing some key properties such as scrub resistance and color intensity. In this project, the Winnik group at the UofT will use techniques that they developed based upon fluorescence measurements and fluorescence microscopy to identify the location of the ARO in the film at different levels of ARO incorporation and for 4 different ARO samples with different properties. They will study at a molecular level how the AROs influence coalescence of the latex particles in the film. In parallel, scientists at BASF will examine how these different formulations affect the performance of the coating as a paint. In this way we hope to build a knowledge base that will enable scientists at BASF to formulate high performance coatings that are friendly to the environment.