Two of Ashland’s coatings experts will show how they are always solving paint rheology challenges through multiple technical presentations at the 2017 Western Coatings Symposium in Las Vegas, Nev.  Ashland Coatings Scientist Kent Maghacut will present “Quantification and Relationships of Nonionic Synthetic Associative Thickeners (NSATs) for Wet and Dried Film Appearance.” In addition, Ashland Coatings Scientist Zeena Cherian will present “A Non-Invasive Analytical Technique to Measure Open Time and Drying of Paint Films.” The 2017 Western Coatings Symposium takes place October 15-18.

“To provide consumers with ever increasing performance coatings formulators constantly seek a deeper understanding of the complex interactions between raw materials in a formulated paint”, said Maghacut, who will present October 17 at 4:00 p.m. “Furthermore, these interactions are changing as the paint is manufactured, mixed, applied, and dries.” He noted that rheology modifiers play a defining role in solving formulators’ challenges via interactions with a coating’s binder and pigments during varying shear conditions, including brush and roller application, as well as “leveling” or undisturbed flow of a paint after application.  

Maghacut will describe how he and his team use Ashland’s patent pending Application Reader Technology (ART), device together with rheometers to objectively measure the complex parameters that comprise paint application feel. Unlike subjective evaluation techniques, the ART device generates reliable and quantitative data that enables formulators to better understand differences in paint formulations and to tailor formulations to specific customer preferences for paint feel.  In addition, the technical presentation also demonstrates the use of surface profilometry on the dried paint film and correlate to various rheology modifiers including NSATs of different compositions.

Cherian will present a new optical technique to measure and quantify the “open time” and drying kinetics of water-based paint formulations. In addition, the presentation will also highlight complementary methods based on rheology, sorption analysis, microscopy for the evaluation of generic paint formulations using various rheology modifiers.

“Zero and low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) water-based architectural paints dry faster than typical, higher VOC-containing formulations so a painter has less open time or working time,” she said. “This can negatively impact important application properties including leveling, workability, and gloss.”  

Cherian said objective measurement of open time is essential to the design, synthesis and evaluation of additives based on a clear understanding of the factors affecting paint performance. While there are existing methods available to measure open time, it is difficult to find one that is discriminating between additives and hence there is a strong need for enhanced methods to fully characterize the real-world performance of different rheology modifiers via non-destructive test methods. Cherian will present October 18 at 3:10 p.m.