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Waterborne acrylic resins include acrylic resin emulsions, aqueous dispersions of acrylic resins (also known as water-dilutable acrylics), and aqueous solutions of acrylic resins.
Compared to traditional solvent-based coatings, waterborne coatings offer advantages such as lower cost, safer use, resource and energy savings, and reduced environmental pollution, thus becoming a major direction for the development of the coatings industry. Waterborne acrylic resin coatings are the fastest-growing and most diverse type of pollution-free waterborne coating.
Waterborne acrylic resins include acrylic resin emulsions, aqueous dispersions of acrylic resins (also known as water-dilutable acrylics), and aqueous solutions of acrylic resins. Emulsions are mainly synthesized by emulsifying oily olefin monomers in water under the initiation of a waterborne free radical initiator, while aqueous resin dispersions are synthesized through different processes such as free radical solution polymerization or stepwise solution polymerization. In terms of particle size: emulsion particle size > aqueous resin dispersion particle size > aqueous solution particle size. From an application perspective, the first two are the most important.
Acrylic emulsions are primarily used as base materials for latex paints and hold a significant position in the architectural coatings market, with their applications continuing to expand. In recent years, the development and application of aqueous dispersions of acrylic resins have attracted increasing attention, with their use in industrial and consumer coatings constantly expanding. Based on monomer composition, they are typically classified into pure acrylic emulsions, styrene-acrylic emulsions, vinyl acetate-acrylic emulsions, silicone-acrylic emulsions, tertiary vinyl acetate (tertiary carbonate-vinyl acetate) emulsions, and tertiary acrylic (tertiary carbonate-acrylate) emulsions, etc.
Waterborne acrylic paints can be divided into two main categories: water-dispersible and water-soluble. The former uses water-based latex or water-soluble colloids as a matrix. Water-soluble acrylic coatings are made from copolymer resins with active crosslinkable functional groups and are mostly thermosetting coatings. During paint preparation, crosslinking resins are added or not added, allowing the active functional groups to crosslink during film formation to create a three-dimensional paint film structure. Developing waterborne acrylic coatings can replace most of the volatile organic solvents with water while maintaining the various unique properties of acrylic coatings, thereby significantly reducing air pollution.
Water-soluble acrylic resins are mostly anionic. In copolymer resins, appropriate amounts of unsaturated carboxylic acids, such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic anhydride, and methylene succinic acid, are selected in the monomers to introduce carboxyl groups onto the side chains. These carboxyl groups are then neutralized with organic amines or ammonia to form salts, thus achieving water solubility. Furthermore, the water solubility of the resin can be increased by selecting appropriate monomers to introduce hydrophilic groups such as -OH hydroxyl groups, -CONH2 amide groups, or -O-ether bonds onto the resin side chains. Neutralized acrylic resins are soluble in water, but their water solubility is not very strong, often forming emulsions or highly viscous solutions. Therefore, a certain proportion of hydrophilic co-solvents must be added to water-soluble resins to increase their water solubility.