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Notes
  1. For the purposes of this text, "paint" means a pigmented product containing an organic or inorganic binder. To include other materials that could be considered paint-like in their use, such as varnishes and inorganic binders, the general term “coatings” will be applied.

coatings iconcoatings technology

 

Learning Objectives:

In this section, we’ll cover

  1. The definition of paint and its main components
  2. Paint Binder Types and Resins
  3. Pigments, including White, Color, Metallic, Extender and Functional
  4. Solvents
  5. Additives, including Surfactants, Driers and Catalysts, rheology modifiers, and more

Introduction

A paint or coating - the two terms are now frequently used interchangeably in the industry - is defined as a mixture or dispersion of opaque pigments or powders in a liquid or vehicle, and may include all organic and inorganic coatings such as enamels, varnishes, emulsions, bituminous coatings, etc. While the word "coating" may be used broadly to refer to any colored or clear product in these families, the word "paint" will generally be reserved to describe a pigmented product with an organic or inorganic binder.

Modern paints are commonly classified as Architectural/Trade Sales, Industrial/Maintenance or Specialty. The architectural/trade sales types are the commonly recognized paints used in homes, multi-family residential, commercial & institutional applications, such as latex wall paints and gloss alkyd enamels that are available at retail paint stores. These kinds of products constitute the largest volume of paints used in the world.

Industrial/maintenance paint types include such products as anti-corrosive primers, machinery & industrial enamels and other products that, in many cases, require more specialized application equipment than brushes and rollers. Often there is a blurry distinction between some of the industrial type coatings and the trade sales especially where High Performance Architectural Coatings (HIPAC) are concerned. These coatings offer improved physical and chemical resistance over standard trade sales paints, but are designed to be applied by conventional methods.

Specialty paints are generally specific in their use, application and resistance properties such as plastics coatings, coil coatings and resistive coatings. In many cases the specialty coatings can only be applied by equipment specifically designed for that, or a similar product. Some coatings are specifically designed for certain manufacturers of products to apply, and are generally referred to as Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM) coatings.

The broadest categorization of paints is into waterborne (water based), solvent based and solvent free (i.e.: 100 % solids epoxies and powder coatings). The latter categories were developed due to environmental concerns and regulatory pressures regarding solvent (V.O.C. - volatile organic compound) release.