A premium supplier of coated glass paint products desired a glass coating that provided long lasting rain repellency when applied to clear window glass for use in automotive and residential applications.
ACTION:
Chemical Dynamics’ coatings product development group developed a clear coating that is easy to apply and provides long lasting rain repellency.
RESULT:
Glass coated with this product exposed to rain or water droplets will quickly shed water droplets so little or no water will remain on the glass.
The annual cost of steel corrosion is estimated to be over $400 billion in the United States and $2 trillion globally. Corrosion is a process where the metal can be degraded by electrochemical and/or chemical processes. This article will discuss the use of lead- and chrome-free corrosion inhibitive pigments in coatings where corrosion is primarily from electrochemical processes. Accordingly, the correct use of corrosion inhibitive pigments can be of enormous economic value.
Ron Lewarchik is a contributing author to UL Prospector and publishes articles monthly. Please read on for his expert findings on “Understanding Corrosion Inhibitive Pigments”:
Metals desire to be in their most thermodynamically stable state, which, in simplified terms, is the naturally occurring state of matter in its lowest energy state. Metals ordinarily exist naturally as oxides (e.g. iron oxide, aluminum oxide, zinc oxide, because oxides represent their lowest energy state. Corrosion is an electrochemical deterioration of a metal due to the reaction with its environment to transform the metal into its lowest energy state. Oxidation occurs at the anode (positive electrode) and reduction occurs at the cathode (negative electrode). Corrosion is normally accelerated by the presence of water, oxygen and salts (particularly of strong acids).
Ron Lewarchik is a contributing author to UL Prospector and publishes articles monthly. Please read on for his expert findings on “Flow, Leveling & Viscosity Control in Waterborne Coatings”:
Flow, leveling and viscosity stability can be very challenging and problematic in waterborne ambient cure and baked finishes. These issues can affect not only package stability, but also have a profound effect on appearance during and after application. As the vast majority of waterborne coatings are anionic in nature (amine (EU) neutralized), this article will focus on amine neutralized resin types, although if resin polarity, for example from acid functionality, is high enough, anionic resin types can be dispersible or even water soluble without the use of neutralizing amine.
There are two major categories of waterborne paint technologies: water reducible (EU) and latex (EU). For the purpose of this article, water reducible resins are normally made in solvent and then reduced with water to form a resin dispersion in water. Latex resins are made by emulsion polymerization in water. The paints using emulsion resins most often utilize a small amount of organic cosolvent to improve coalescence of the latex particles, as well as substrate wetting.
Other types of waterborne paints utilize a growing number of resin types that include PUD (polyurethane dispersions (EU)) as well as microemulsions. Accordingly, multiple issues can influence the flow, leveling, and appearance of waterborne coatings. This article will primarily examine the impact of 1) resin type, 2) humidity and temperature variation, 3) wetting and 4) flow control. Appearance of the coating during and after application can be affected greatly by these issues.
Ron Lewarchik is a contributing author to UL Prospector and publishes articles monthly. Please read on for his findings on “Improving Performance in Ambient Cured Latex Paints”:
Many ambient cured latex paint systems offer deficient properties to those of their solvent born counterparts. Issues with water-born, latex-based paints (EU) may include poorer chemical resistance, moisture resistance, adhesion, surface hardness, abrasion and block resistance. Latex-based coatings systems where these characteristics are desired include architectural, automotive interior, business machine coatings, general industrial, implement finishes and wood coatings.
This article will summarize the causes of poorer performance in ambient cured water-born coatings (EU) and provide formulation guidance and the means to improve performance. We will concentrate on aspects involving the use of commercially available latex polymers (EU) and cross-linkers (EU), rather than on improving these properties by varying monomer selection, polymer architecture (e.g. core-shell, dispersion, solution, emulsion or microemulsion etc.) or Tg (the glass transition temperature is the temperature at which a polymer changes from a hard and brittle state to soft and pliable). Click here for the full article at UL Prospector
Chemical Dynamics, LLC Receives 2013 Best of Plymouth Award
PLYMOUTH December 3, 2013 — Chemical Dynamics, LLC has been selected for the 2013 Best of Plymouth Award in the Analysis & Consulting Chemists category by the Plymouth Award Program.
Each year, the Plymouth Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Plymouth area a great place to live, work and play.
Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2013 Plymouth Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Plymouth Award Program and data provided by third parties.
The Plymouth Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.
A defendant in a law suit involving a coating failure on a multi-story executive apartment building required an expert witness in coating failures to investigate the claim, provide an expert report, and deliver trial testimony.
Action:
Chemical Dynamics was up to the challenge and provided the required expert witness support.
Result:
The defendant won the case and the judge cited the reason for his verdict in his ruling. He stated that it was the result of the compelling evidence and strong testimony provided by Chemical Dynamics.
A leading manufacturer of coatings for forestry applications requested assistance to reduce cost and improve performance by reformulating two of their product lines to form a new wood coating.
Action:
Chemical Dynamics reformulated the product lines by replacing a portion of some pigments with lower cost substitutes that provided lower cost and improved performance.
Result:
Launching a new wood coating that reduces cost by 10% while providing equivalent opacity and improved depth of color
FlameOff, a global company with sales in excess of 50 billion dollars, sought to penetrate the coatings market with new raw materials. They did not know the full range of market applications for their technology, nor did they have a commercial synthesis process for their technology.
Action:
Chemical Dynamics refined the synthesis process to enable facile production, defined multiple applications for the technology that included corrosion inhibitive pigments including replacement of chrome containing pigments, flame retardant additives, flatteners and opacity enhancement. Next, Chemical Dynamics formulated these products in multiple formulations for markets including building products, coil coatings, and product finishing. The technology was then introduced to multiple clients including current clients of Chemical Dynamics.
Result:
Soon after the technology was introduced and tested by multiple potential customers, commercial orders quickly followed. Today, this business segment is enjoying rapid growth.
When Earth Pigments Co. approached Chemical Dynamics to assist them in developing an ambient cure powder paint for architectural applications, the challenges were daunting. The coating had to be comprised of nontoxic binders and pigments, preferably naturally occurring and provide a coating with zero organic volatiles (VOC) or volatiles that are considered to be non VOC. Within a few short weeks, Chemical Dynamics was able to formulate a powder coating that met Earth Pigment’s requirements.
Most powder coatings require oven cure to either melt and fuse the thermoplastic powder or to fuse and enable crosslinking if the powder is thermoset in nature. Powder coatings are available in a range of colors similar to liquid coatings.
Advantages of powder coatings include:
little or no organic volatiles
environmental compliance
no need for solvents for reducing or adjusting viscosity
long term storage stability
lower shipping costs as the product does not contain solvent or water
no need to store volatile solvents, therefore lower insurance costs, as powder coatings are by nature 100% solids and most liquid coatings are not
Disadvantages of powder coatings include:
greater tendency for the surface to peel
poorer adhesion and more film defects such as craters and pin holes if the surface is not adequately cleaned and treated
more sensitive to contamination, more difficult to change color when finishing products
it is much more difficult to apply a continuous thin film
Powder Paint Cost
Determining the effective cost of paint that can be made from naturally occurring elements involves several issues that must be considered. These include the volume solids of the paint, application method, and the geometry of the object to be painted. For example, a paint that sells for $20 per gallon at 20% volume solids is actually more expensive on an applied cost basis than a paint that sells for $40 per gallon at 45% volume solids.
Theoretical coverage
=
Volume Solids
Dry mils required
To illustrate the cost of paint to apply one mil (0.001 inch) per 100 square foot of the $20 paint is as follows:
If a gallon of paint weighs 10 pounds and is $20/gallon at 20% volume solids = 10# of the 20 $/Gallon X 0.20 pounds of volume solids = 2.0 pounds of solid or dry paint per gallon of liquid paint for $20. Accordingly the cost of each dry pound of paint is $10. The square foot coverage of a paint is 1604 square feet per mil at 100% volume solids. Since our paint is 20% volume solids, at one mil dry film thickness, one gallon of paint will cover 1604 square feet/mil X 0.20 % volume solids = 320.8 square feet/gallon at a cost of $20. Accordingly the cost to paint 100 square feet of surface is $20 X 100/320.8 = $6.23
To illustrate the cost of paint to apply one mil (0.001 inch) per 100 square foot of the $40 paint is as follows:
A gallon of this paint weighs 12 pounds and is $40/gallon at 45% volume solids = 12# of the 40 $/Gallon X 0.45 pounds of volume solids = 5.14 pounds of solid or dry paint per gallon of liquid paint for $40. Accordingly the cost of each dry pound of paint is $7.78. The square foot coverage of a paint is 1604 square feet per mil at 100% volume solids. Since our paint is 45% volume solids, at one mil dry film thickness, one gallon of paint will cover 1604 square feet/mil X 0.45 % volume solids = 721.8 square feet/gallon at a cost of $40. Accordingly the cost to paint 100 square feet of surface is $40 X 100/721.8 = $5.54
Accordingly, in this illustration, the $40 paint provides more value than the $20 paint as it provides lower cost coverage at equal dry film thickness. The table below illustrates paint coverage per mil for paint applied at 100% volume solids.
“For over five years we’ve been using Chemical Dynamics professional expertise to guide us with our challenging technical needs for several key strategic automotive aftermarket applications. These innovations have helped our customers solve problems as well as enable our company to experience continued growth in sales and profitability. Their work is first rate and cost effective.”
Herschel Wright, President, Hi Tech Industries Inc.
