Investigating propensity of roller spatter during application of water-based architectural paints

During roll coating application of water-based architectural paints, fibers are formed between roller and substrate. These fibers progressively thin and break up into several tiny droplets leading to the wastage of paints. This defect is widely known as spattering. In the current study, the propensity to spatter in fully formulated mid pigment volume concentration water-based architectural paints based on varying the type of thickeners, namely a combination of cellulosic with clay, cellulosic, and hydrophobically modified poly acetal/ketal polyether (HMPAPE), at similar and varying volume solids is investigated.

Paint based on HMPAPE thickener spatters the least

At the same volume solids, the paint based on a combination of cellulosic with clay thickener spatters the most, while the paint based on HMPAPE thickener spatters the least. This is mainly attributed to the chemistry, molecular weight, and thickening mechanism of thickeners.

Eventually, a reliable correlation was established between observed spatter and the frequency-dependent elastic modulus outside the linear viscoelastic range at the same and varying solids for paints based on the different types of thickener. This correlation is supposed to help chemists to quickly screen formulations to minimize the spattering during roll coat application, thus saving time, cost, and manpower.

The study can be found in Journal of Coatings Technology and Research volume 17 (2020).

Image source: Pixabay.