The Development of Waterborne Coatings and the Advantages of Waterborne Floor Coatings

Thanks to the outstanding comprehensive advantages of waterborne coatings, their application in the general industrial coating sector has expanded continuously over the past decade, gradually replacing many traditional solvent-based coatings. With increasingly stringent global restrictions on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and toxic substances, as well as the optimization of resin formulations and the development of supporting additives, waterborne coatings are expected to further substitute solvent-based products in metal anti-rust protection, decorative finishing, architectural engineering and other fields.

Among waterborne coatings, latex coatings occupy a dominant position. In the United States, latex coatings account for 90% of all architectural coatings, and related research achievements make up about 20% of the total coating technology research. The mainstream research directions are mainly as follows:

1. Research on film-forming mechanism

   Studies in this field mainly aim to improve the comprehensive performance of coating films.
2. Research on construction and application

   In recent years, extensive research has been carried out on latex coatings for metal substrates and has achieved remarkable results. The United States, Japan, Germany and other countries have launched mature anti-rust primers and topcoats for metal surfaces, which are well received in the market.

Thermoplastic latex binders are mostly acrylic polymers, acrylic copolymers or polyurethane dispersions, which form cured films through coalescence of high-molecular-weight particles. The coalescence state of latex particles directly determines the film-forming performance of latex coatings. In recent years, the industry has focused on the development of high-adhesion and fast-drying binders, as well as blended resin emulsions.

Conventional waterborne latex polymers show poor adhesion to hydrophobic substrates such as plastics and poorly cleaned metal surfaces. To improve adhesion, it is necessary to optimize the design of latex polymers and formulas to match the surface characteristics of substrates, and select suitable coalescing agents to reduce the critical surface tension of water, so as to adapt to commercial plastics with low critical surface tension. Newly developed polymer latex features easy coalescence, enabling good film formation with only a small amount of coalescing agent, and has been widely applied to plastic products such as furniture, machinery and daily appliances.

Newly developed latex blends make up for the respective shortcomings of water-dilutable alkyd coatings and rigid thermoplastic latex coatings. Through targeted formula design, the problems of poor miscibility and stability have been solved.

Waterborne polyurethane coatings are a fast-growing category of waterborne coatings in recent years. In addition to the inherent high strength, wear resistance and other excellent properties of conventional polyurethane coatings, they are environmentally friendly with no pollution, and pose low risks of poisoning and fire hazards. Containing carbamate bonds and urea bonds in the molecular structure, waterborne polyurethane coatings deliver excellent flexibility, mechanical strength, wear resistance, chemical resistance and durability. Europe, America, Japan and other regions regard them as high-performance modern coating varieties and vigorously promote their research and development.

Waterborne epoxy floor coating is a two-component material, which must be constructed and used together with the matching waterborne epoxy curing agent produced by the same manufacturer. It refers to a stable dispersion system in which epoxy resin is dispersed in the water-based continuous medium in the form of fine particles or liquid droplets.

Epoxy floor paint is a thermosetting coating with a linear molecular structure, which undergoes chemical cross-linking reaction at room temperature. After curing, the floor coating changes from thermoplastic to an infusible three-dimensional network structure, presenting the superior comprehensive performance of waterborne floor coatings.

The excellent advantages of waterborne floor coatings can be summarized into six aspects: