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Structure and Behavior of Wetting Agents

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Jochum Beetsma

Introduction
Wetting is the adsorption of liquid at a solid surface. The process is important in coatings
and inks, for example when solid particles must be dispersed in a liquid medium or when
a liquid paint or ink is applied on a substrate.

Pre-condition for wetting

In the following, we concentrate on wetting of a flat solid substrate by a liquid paint or ink.
The two properties that govern whether or not complete wetting will take place are the
surface tension of the liquid γlg and the surface energy of the substrate γsg1. Complete
wetting of a flat solid surface will occur when the surface tension of the liquid is lower
than the surface energy of the solid: γlg < γsg. This precondition is often called the wetting
condition for flat surfaces.
 Wetting of a substrate is governed by surface energy and surface tension.

Wetting agents
Wetting agents are additives that are used to improve wetting behavior of paints and
inks. To be more precise, wetting agents lower the surface tension of a liquid so that the
complete system, consisting of solid and liquid, complies with the wetting condition.
Wetting agents have a surfactant structure, implying that the molecules have a
hydrophilic part and a hydrophobic part2. Nonionic wetting agents do not carry a charge.
The hydrophilic part of anionic wetting agents carries a negative charge in water-based
systems.

Example of a nonionic (left) and an anionic (right) surfactant.

Wetting agents lower the surface tension of a liquid because the surfactant molecules
adsorb and orient at the liquid-air interface in such a way that the hydrophobic tails point
towards the air.

Behavior of molecules that have a surfactant structure.

Wetting agents are especially important in water-based systems. The reason for this is
that water is a liquid with high surface tension: γlg of water is 73 mJ/m2 at room
temperature1.
Challenges and innovations
A range of challenges, related to the use of wetting agents in water-based systems, are
well known. I address two of them. First, many wetting agents stabilize foam bubbles. This
problem can be solved by using defoamers. However, defoamers themselves often cause
problems like cratering and orange peel. Secondly, the wetting agent molecules must
move to the liquid-air interface as fast as possible when application of the system has
stopped. It is said that the equilibrium surface tension (EST) must be obtained in a short
time. It will come as no surprise that the industry is looking for innovative wetting agents
that obtain EST as fast as possible and do not give foam problems.

An example
A concept used to make wetting agents with low foam sensitivity is the Gemini structure3.
A molecule that has Gemini structure contains, for example, 2 hydrophilic hydroxyl (-OH)
groups and two hydrophobic tails (R2 and R3).

Nonionic surfactant molecule having Gemini structure.

Surfynol® 107 L is a nonionic alkane diol surfactant having Gemini structure. The additive is
particularly suitable as wetting agent for water-based systems. The molecules adsorb
fast at the water-air interface and they have a tendency to destabilize foam bubbles.

References
1. Article Surface Tension & Surface Energy, Jochum Beetsma, 27 September 2019.
2. Article Lowering surface tension – Surfactants in coating materials, Marc Hirsch, 25
February 2021.
3. Article Sticking to the Subject about superwetters for waterbased systems, Roger
Reinartz et al., European Coatings Journal, issue 7/8 of 2015, page 20-25.

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Filed Under: Paint & Coatings

About Jochum Beetsma

With over 30 years of experience in the coating and ink industry, Drs. Jochum
Beetsma brings expertise in physical chemistry, raw materials, product
development, innovation implementation and problem solving to his role as a paint
and coatings industry expert at Prospector. As graduated physical chemist and
PDMA-certified New Product Development Professional, Jochum Beetsma authors
in-depth technical articles for Knowledge.ULProspector.com.
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