The Waterborne Symposium

Abstract: New Ways for Waterborne 2K Epoxy Formulations

Historically, conventional solventbased epoxy technologies dominated the primer and mid-coat application areas within the protective coatings market. These historical systems offer exceptional overall performance with regard to film and barrier, rheology, and storage properties due in part to their optimized additive packages. Continued volatile organic compound regulations as well as the industry desire to move towards more environmentally-friendly options have placed an emphasis on developing alternative technologies for use in this formulation space.
Waterborne epoxy systems have been in use for several years, typically in less challenging service environments; however, with recent advancements in waterborne epoxy technologies, the protective coatings market is now making greater use of waterborne epoxy systems in primer and mid-coat applications. Like their predecessors, waterborne epoxy systems must also employ optimized additive packages to achieve the highest level of performance. System rheology is an important aspect for these systems as it has direct impact on properties such as anti-sagging, anti-settling and application properties. Existing waterborne rheology modifier technologies display limited functionality in these next generation systems, and there are obvious limitations on their effectiveness. There is a need to develop new rheology additives that will address the shortcomings of existing technologies.
This presentation will not only provide an overview of the limitations seen with existing rheology modifier technologies but will also highlight recent developments that are allowing waterborne epoxy systems to close the performance gap with traditional solventbased and solvent-free systems.