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Varnishes and Paints From Soybeans: A, J. Lewis
Varnishes and Paints From Soybeans: A, J. Lewis
Varnishes and Paints From Soybeans: A, J. Lewis
This specification sets standards for been mixed with tung oil in proportions
specific gravity, iodine number, saponi- of 70 parts to 30 parts by weight and
fication number, loss on heating at heated to 550° F. to make a processed
105° C, unsaponifiable matter per- oil with better drying qualities than
centage of foreign material, and acid linseed oil. This processed oil, known
number. as a copolymerized oil, can be cooked
Besides those requirements, the oil wdth ester gum and other inexpensive
must be clear and free from sediment resins to make high-grade varnishes.
and suspended matter when examined The polymers of high-viscosity bodied
by transmitted light at 65° C. (149° soybean oil are insoluble in acetone and
F. ). Its color must not be darker than can be readily separated from the un-
that of a solution of 0.38 gram of re- polymerized portion for use in making
agent potassium dichromate in 100 good soybean oil-ester gum varnishes.
milliliters of sulfuric acid of specific
gravity of 1.84, equivalent to the No. SOYBEAN OIL GAINED POPULARITY in
12 tube of the Gardner color scale the varnish industry in the Second
(1933). World War when supplies of tung oil
were short. Tung oil had been popular
A BODIED OIL is one that has been since early in the First World War. Be-
heated at high temperatures to "body," fore then, most varnishes w^ere made
or thicken, it to a siruplike consistency from linseed oil and natural resins. The
by the formation of polymers, which coatings from these varnishes dried too
result when molecules combine with slowly to meet the demand for fast pro-
one another. The soybean oil used for duction of armaments and w^ar equip-
kettle bodying must be free from for- ment. Soon a new type of varnish, Val-
eign, or break, material and should spar, appeared. It was made from ester
have a high iodine number. The iodine gum (a resin obtained by neutralizing
number denotes the amount of iodine rosin acids wdth glycerol), tung oil,
that is absorbed by the oil molecules and mineral spirits. It, and others like
and is the measure of the degree of un- it, dried rapidly, were waterproof, and
saturation, or capacity of the oil to oxi- made excellent grinding materials for
dize and to polymerize. Soybean oil paints and hard-drying enamels.
that has an iodine number of 130 takes Oil-modified alkyd varnishes, gen-
twice as long to body to a certain vis- erally called alkyds, are made commer-
cosity as linseed oil with an iodine cially in closed vacuum kettles. The
number of 175 when heated at the process usually consists of heating and
same temperature. The time required reacting a dibasic acid, such as phthalic
for bodying soybean oil can be reduced anhydride, and a polyhydroxy alcohol,
by heating the oil to as high a tempera- such as glycerol, with the fatty acids of
ture as possible without creating a fire vegetable, animal, or marine oils. The
hazard or by using high vacuum. Also, oils serve as plasticizers and are re-
a number of chemicals, such as ß- quired because the resin produced by
methylanthraquinone, phenanthrene, the reaction of the acid and alcohol is
and diphcnylcarboxyanthracene, have too brittle for use in surface coatings
been used successfully to accelerate the without modification. A unique char-
bodying of oils without injuring their acteristic of alkyds is that the plasticizer
quality. becomes a part of the resin by chem-
Bodied soybean oils have been used ical combination rather than by phys-
to replace all or part of the oil vehicle ical admixture. The first alkyds, known
of interior and exterior paints with as glyptals, utilized only the fatty acids
some success in drying and in durabil- of hnseed oil, but in the early 1930's
ity. Bodied soybean oil that has a vis- small amounts of soybean fatty acids
cosity of approximately 5 poises (simi- began to be used in blends with linseed
lar to a very heavy lubricating oil) has fatty acids. The production of alkyd
VARNISHES AND PAINTS FROM SOYBEANS 571
varnishes increased rapidly because The hardest and most durable var-
they could be produced economically nishes have been those made from an
and were outstanding for adhesion, oil-reactive, unmodified phenolic resin
toughness, durability, flexibility, and and soybean oil. The varnishes were
hardness. Also, they could be produced made by heating 20 gallons of refined
in large volumes in single closed ket- soybean oil and 100 pounds of phenolic
tles, required little supei^dsion, and resin (Bakelite resin No. 254) together
utilized the oils then available. in a stainless-steel open kettle at 600°
The use of soybean fatty acids has F. until bodied sufficiently to give a 5-
been favored for alkyds because of their inch string when a few drops were
availability and low linolenic acid con- tested on a cold plate.
tent. The low^ acid content enables the The cook was then removed from the
manufacturer to produce white and heat, allowed to cool to 200° F., and
light-tinted enamel coatings that do thinned wdth 24 gallons of mineral
not yellow^ appreciably when applied spirits follow^ed by 5 gallons of toluene.
to refrigerators, automobiles, and the Cobalt driers of the naphthenate type
like. Although the slow-drying prop- containing 6 percent cobalt metal w^erc
erties of soybean acids limited their use added at room temperature and three-
in the alkyd field for a long time, im- eighths of a gallon of drier gave satis-
proved methods for the forced drying factory drying qualities to the coatings.
of coatings by heat ( especially infrared The time of bodying at 600° F. to a
lamps) have greatly helped to over- 5-inch string w^as approximately an
come this limitation. An increasing hour; the speed of bodying depended
number of manufacturers now produce on the use of an oil-reactive resin.
alkyds containing 100 percent soybean Phenolic varnishes made by this for-
acids. It is likely that half or more of mula and procedure dried rapidly over-
the soybean oil used in protective coat- night to hard, glossy coatings, which
ings is being used in making alkyd wxTe durable and mar proof when
varnishes. tested on floors, launches, bow^s and
Soybean oil-ester gum varnishes of arrow^s, and such. The coatings were
15- and 20-gallon oil lengths (gallons highly resistant to hot and cold w^ater,
of oil to 100 pounds of resin), known acids, alkalies, gasoline, and alcohol.
as short-oil varnishes in the trade, have Tested comparatively by outdoor
been made by cooking ester gum and w-eathering, they proved to be more
refined soybean oil for 3/2 hours at durable than tw^o high-grade com-
600° F. But the coatings from these mercial varnishes that contain tung oil.
varnishes soften, or "aftertack," badly Similar varnishes were made with
in hot, humid weather. Nevertheless, longer oil lengths, but their coatings
the same varnishes, w^hen partly pig- did not dry so hard and w^ere less
mented wdth small amounts of calcium resistant than the coatings of the 20-
oxide, produce coatings that dry fast, gallon varnish. How^ever, the material
hard, and flat, and are durable for costs for varnishes of long oil length
interior use. are less, and they are easier to apply by
The best soybean oil-ester gum var- brushing. Norelac is another type of
nishes have been made from either the varnish that dries by solvent evapo-
copolymer of tung and soybean oils, or ration instead of by oxidation and
the polymers extracted from bodied polymerization.
soybean oils, both of w^hich I have de-
scribed. Other soybean oil-ester gum LITTLE SOYBEAN OIL was used in
varnish coatings, which have good dry- paints until 1934, when some farmers'
ing qualities and resistance to hot and cooperative organizations began to dis-
cold water, acids, and alkalies, have tribute exterior paints that contained
been made from some of the special small percentages of soybean oil and
soybean oils, which are described later. were made by paint manufacturers
1930-1951 YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE
paint and varnish industry in the use the drying and other qualities of the
of less expensive oils, such as petroleum soybean-oil coatings.
and tali, may prove a serious factor of
competition to the continued use of A. J. LEWIS has been a research
soybean oil and of its improved drying chemist in the Northern Regional Re-
treatments must be kept competitive search Laboratory since 1942. He does
with the cost of those oils as well as research on the use of soybean oil in
wdth that of linseed, tung, dehydrated protective coatings. Previously he was
castor, and other faster-drying oils. The a chemist at the National Bureau of
use of small amounts of calcium oxide Standards, Franklin Automobile Co.,
or lime in pigment formulations ap- Norfolk Navy Yard and the United
pears to be one method for lowering States Regional Soybean Industrial
costs and at the same time improving Products Laboratory.