WATERBORNE PAINTS

Waterborne coating is a general term used to describe any surface coating or finish that
uses water as a solvent to disperse the resin added to it to create the coating.
Composition varies and may include as much as 80% water with small amounts of other
solvents such as glycol ethers. High water content makes waterborne coatings both
environmentally friendly and easy to apply.

This type of coating contains water-soluble resin; hence it completely dissolves in water
and other solvents. A waterborne coating contains organic co-solvents since it undergoes
poly-condensation or polymerization reactions. It has the following qualities:

 High gloss  Good resistance to heat and

 High corrosion protection abrasion
 Wetting and stabilization  Low toxicity and flammability
 Good pigmentation  Cleans easily with water or water-
 Good flow and leveling properties based solutions

Although it takes longer to dry, it produces an outstanding surface finish and protection.
Heating and air movement devices increase the curing time. It can be used in
conventional application techniques and by spraying. Waterborne coating is one of the
best for use on porous material. It contains binders that can be used in the formulation of
epoxy and alkyd resins.

Types of Waterborne Coatings

Water-soluble paints – contain water-soluble resins which contains individual
molecules that are completely soluble in water. The resins are usually produced via
polymerization reactions in an organic medium, hence they mostly contain organic co-
solvents like alcohols, glycol ethers or other oxygen-containing solvents that are soluble
or miscible with water.

Water-dispersible paints or colloidal coatings – contain small clusters of

insoluble resin particles that are suspended in water using mechanical agitation. Small
quantities of organic solvents are used as coalescing agents, which evaporate on drying.

Emulsions/latex paints - are quite similar to water-dispersible paints. The main

difference is that the resin clusters in emulsions tend to be larger, and an emulsifier is
required to keep the clusters in suspension. The resins used include styrene-butadiene
copolymers, acrylics, alkyds, polyvinyl acetate, and polystyrene. These paints possess
increased permeability which allows them to "breathe," thus reducing blistering or peeling.
 Water-based alkyds – These coatings tend to take longer to dry than solvent-
borne coatings; however, the end result has similar gloss, flow and levelling properties.
They are very versatile as they can be thinned with water to almost any viscosity. Water-
based alkyds can be applied with spray or dip applications, and are one of the cheaper
VOC-compliant coatings.

Electrodepositable coatings- are a special class of water- borne system. The

polymer is carried in an aqueous medium and, on application of current via suitable
electrodes, polymer in the vicinity of one of the electrodes is destabilized and deposited
on the electrode. The deposited polymer builds up to form an insulating layer that
ultimately limits further deposition.

Advantages and disadvantages of water-borne paints

Advantages of water-borne paints

 Low toxicity due to low content of VOC (volatile organic compounds).

 No/low fire hazard.
 Various types of substrates (wood, metal, plastic, glass, concrete) may be
coated.
 Different application techniques may be used (brushing, spraying, dip, flow,
roller)

Disadvantages of water-borne paints:

 Low drying rate at high humidity.

 May be more expensive than Solvent-borne paints.
 Limited coating thickness (up to 30 nm).
 Corrosion resistant equipment (tanks, pipes, fittings) is required.
 Long flash-off times

Application (Waterborne Paints)

For protection and decoration purposes, providing a high gloss finish and an
excellent corrosion protector.
Waterborne finishes offer a broad variety of application, including:
 Automobiles  Containers
 Concrete  Plastic, Wood and Printing Inks
 Furniture
I. Automobiles
 For automobile companies, waterborne paints are used in the automotive paint.
It may be other countries still use solvent-borne or conventional paints, it is stated
that solvent-borne used paint should be minimalized because of its high toxicity.
II. Concrete
Cements are used everywhere for making concretes, to make it look presentable
it will be covered with paint, therefore waterborne properties will come in handy
because of relatively lower cost of production compared to other types of paints.
III. Furniture
As stated above, waterborne paints provide a high gloss finish which is a must in
every furniture industries, therefore using waterborne paints reduced much toll for the
product.
IV. Containers
Container and paint guns used during the application of waterborne paints can
be easily cleaned with water or water-base cleaners disposing of the need for
cleaners such as acetone, methyl acetate.