[ CHE EL 22: PAINTS AND COATINGS ]

ADDITIVES OR MODIFIERS FOR COATINGS

DEFINITION

Coating additives are any substances that are added in small quantities to a coating material to improve
or to modify certain properties of the finished coating or of the coating material during its manufacture,
storage, transport, or application

Coating additives may differ significantly from each other regarding their chemical compositions and
functions. The only common factors for the different additive groups are that they are by definition
“added in small quantities” and that the purpose of their application is “to realize certain desired
properties”.

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO FUNCTION

The expression “to improve or to modify certain properties” refers not only to technical properties, it also
includes economical aspects such as the reduction of manufacturing costs or the pigment yield
optimization.

The amount of additives in a coating formulation is seldom more than 5% by weight. The average
proportion of a single additive in a formulation is usually around 1.5 % of the total quantity of the coating
formulation.
1. Thickening agent
These additives influence the rheological properties of a paint by increasing the
viscosity.
2. Surface- Active Agent
This group is subdivided into :
- wetting and dispersing agents
- anti-foaming agents
- adhesion promotors
3. Surface Modifiers
This group is subdivided into:
- slip additives
- matting agents
4. Levelling agents and Coalescing agents
- The group of levelling agents includes flow agents.
5. Catalytically active agents
- This group includes: catalysts, driers
6. Special- effect additives
7. The remaining additives are included in this group, e. g. :
- anti-skinning agents - biocides
- light stabilizers - flame retardants
- corrosion inhibitors -photoinitiators

INTERACTIONS

Typical characteristics of additives which are of great technical significance :

1|Page
 [ CHE EL 22: PAINTS AND COATINGS ]

Molecules can be tailor-made through chemical modifications so that they have a higher affinity
for certain selected interfaces. This may be achieved, for instance, in the case of fatty alcohols, by
introducing negatively charged groups such as carboxylates, sulphates, or phosphates. This
chemical modification of the fatty alcohol results in improved adsorption on the surfaces of base
pigments (covalent bonding forces).

2. Vapour Pressure
In practice, methyl ethyl ketoxime is the main additive used as anti-skinning agent in oxidative
drying alkyd paints. This oxime is a good ligand for certain metals, and it complexes drying
catalysts such as cobalt driers, which are typically used in these paints. In contrast to the free
drier, the cobalt oxime complex has no catalytic effect on the drying rate. When the paint is
applied, the surface area is increased considerably. Because methyl ethyl ketoxime has a high
vapour pressure, it evaporates soon after the coating has been applied, releasing the catalyst so
that it can be active

3. Solubility
Defoaming and anti-foaming agents should be effective at the liquid air interface. Defoaming and
anti-foaming agents are usually poorly soluble in the liquid phase. As soon as the paint is applied,
the defoaming agent separates and floats as a very thin layer on top of the paint layer, resulting
in a higher concentration of the defoaming agent at the liquid/air interface.

4. Chemical Stability
Limited chemical stability at higher temperatures of, for example, certain blocked acid catalysts
causes the release of the acid at higher temperatures, thus effecting acid-catalysed curing of
paints and coatings.

5. Chemical Composition
The different additives vary significantly with regard to their chemical compositions. Some
additives have clearly defined compositions, being made up of compounds such as oximes,
silicones, cellulose-ether or metal soaps; other additives are very complex preparations made up
of different components. Some additives consist of natural products (for example lecithin) or
modified or prepared natural products (such as cellulose derivatives). However, the majority of
the additives are based on synthetic products.

APPLICATIONS

Usually additives are selected according to the following criteria:

- functionality, availability, compatibility, price/performance relationship

The functionality is related to the composition as well as the usage levels and recommended application.
Additives are often used as “problem solvers”, i. e., they are selected to solve, for instance, an actual
production or application problem and are therefore needed immediately. The availability of the additive
is in such a case decisive.

Compatibility is a very important criterion as well. In practice different additives are used in the same
formulation. Here some effects could be mutually neutralized. A good example is certain dispersing agents
that can influence the effectiveness of the associative thickener negatively. The effectiveness and

2|Page
 [ CHE EL 22: PAINTS AND COATINGS ]

efficiency of an additive can be influenced by physical or chemical interactions with other ingredients of
the coating formulation during storage of the paint product. A good understanding of the characteristic
properties of all the ingredients in the particular coating formulation reduces the risk of being confronted
with such unwanted interactions.

The sequence of addition of the raw materials can be very important, especially with regard to the
additives. Some additives are typically added before the dispersing process, for example, dispersing
agents, thickeners, bactericides, or the additives are added during the let-down stage of the coating-
production process.

The dosage of some additives is critical; because of the complexity of a coating formulation, it is necessary
to determine the optimal quantity empirically for each formulation individually.

As additives are substances which are only added in small quantities, the impact on the total raw material
costs is relatively minor, the decisive factor is whether the desired improvement is obtained or not.

QUANTITIES USED

Driers, used as drying catalysts in oxidatively drying paints, make up the main part of the catalytically
active additives.

ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF COATING ADDITIVES

Although additives make up a small proportion of paint formulations, the total world consumption of
additives is estimated to be more than 350 000 metric tons annually! The relative importance of additives
is not simply expressed by total quantities or sales volumes, most important is the technical impact of the
additives on the paint properties. The significance of an additive in a specific coating material is best
expressed in terms of its contribution to the improvement in the quality of the paint. However, this
economic contribution is not easily quantifiable into an “economic figure”. If one were to base the
economic importance of additives on the raw material costs for the production of paints, it would be
found to be rather moderate.

3|Page