The Waterborne Symposium 2025

Abstract
“The Scientific Balance” explores the potential synergy between fundamental chemistry principles and empirical knowledge in the formulation of paints and coatings.  In the coatings industry, empirical approaches often dominate certain practices, however, this approach may limit innovation and overlook areas that could enhance formulations.  By revisiting fundamental concepts in chemistry, theory, and mechanism, formulators may gain insights into underlying principles of coatings performance.  Examples include the use of chemistry, physics, and mathematics to address common challenges most formulators experience related to surface tension, pigment dispersion, rheology, and film formation.  The right balance is important and needed for professional development and to unlock new avenues of product innovation for more effective, sustainable, and high-performance coatings.

Please visit our exhibitors in the exhibit hall - Grand Ballroom D.

Join us in our exhibit hall for coffee, king cake and networking

Trends in sustainability and changing regulations result in an ongoing evolution of customer needs. New technology or new approaches are often needed to meet these evolving needs, presenting both challenges and opportunities to the coatings industry. A number of examples of technology innovations developed to address such needs will be shared including methods of reducing energy required for cure and approaches for removing materials of concern.

Abstract
Market-inspired research and development (R&D) plays a crucial role in driving innovation, addressing societal needs, and advancing technology. A deeper understanding of market segments and dynamics further sharpens the focus of R&D efforts and increases the chances of commercialization success. And when these efforts align with governmental objectives, an influx of significant funding can accelerate technological advancements. Government funding programs reduce risk and allow researchers to explore long-term breakthrough technologies that might not otherwise take place. In this talk we will explore how combining the tools of market intelligence with various funding mechanisms can effectively intersect to identify innovation gaps that are likely to yield greater results that benefit both society and the economy.

Co-Authors:  Yelone Liu and Hugo Wang

Abstract

The use of plastics in different applications, such as automotive interiors and consumer electronics, has increased mainly due to their low density and light weight, convenient processability and balance of cost and performance. However, many plastics require a coating to protect the surface from scratches and abrasion to maintain their surface appearance and quality. This is particularly challenging in low gloss coatings (≤ 5 gloss units at 60°) where the film damage is easily visible. The thin films used also limits the ability of some additive technologies to improve coating durability.

This paper presents a study of different synthetic silica matting agents in combination with other additives in four different plastic coating formulations and compares their effects on scratch and abrasion resistance of the final coating. Conventional silica matting agents offer good dispersibility and matting efficiency, but their scratch and abrasion resistance does not meet end-user expectations. Organic / polymeric matting agents have better scratch and abrasion resistance but are less efficient in matting. Combinations of silica matting agents with other technologies, such as nylon powders or polyethylene waxes can dramatically improve the scratch resistance without side effects. Abrasion resistance can be enhanced using combinations of matting agents with novel small-sized, spherical silica particles..

Co-Authors:
Juliane P. Santos, Larissa C. C. de Almeida, Maira V. de Carvalho, Michael Praw

Abstract
"The emulsification of resins used in solvent-based coatings into water is a crucial strategy for developing environmentally friendlier water-based coatings. Among the various resins used in solvent-based coatings, alkyd resins stand out due to their partial renewability and extensive use in decorative and protective coatings. They offer excellent adhesion to a variety of substrates, high gloss, durability, and resistance to water, chemicals, heat, and solvents. However, due to environmental and GHS concerns, there is a trend towards emulsifying these polymers with emulsifiers to create stable oil-in-water emulsions for water-based formulations.

Long-in-oil alkyd resins with viscosities ranging from 5000 to 15000 cP at the emulsification temperature are typically emulsified using the phase inversion methodology with low shear mixing equipment. However, emulsifying higher viscosity resins, such as medium-in-oil alkyd resins, presents more challenges.

This work focuses on developing a special solvent and optimizing emulsifier compositions to reduce the viscosity of medium-in-oil alkyd resins, enabling their emulsification through phase inversion using low shear mixing equipment, and producing emulsions with particle size below 400 nm.

The prototype of an environmentally friendly solvent, designed for having Hansen Solubility Parameters (HSP) close to the ones of the alkyd resins, effectively decreases the viscosity of medium-in-oil alkyd resin at 80°C, the emulsification temperature, as confirmed by rheological measurements. A small amount (5 wt%) of this solvent reduced the viscosity by approximately 60%.

The emulsifier compositions include a special nonionic emulsifier designed for alkyd resin emulsification and a conventional anionic emulsifier. Interfacial tension evaluation between a model oil phase containing the emulsifier composition and water was used to select the most effective emulsifier compositions for reducing the interfacial tension, crucial for successful emulsification.

The study also explored the effects of two bases, sodium hydroxide and triethylamine, used for neutralizing the carboxylic groups of the resin, and the conventional anionic surfactant. The interfacial tension results indicated that compositions rich in the nonionic emulsifier could reduce the interfacial tension at 40°C from 18 mN/m to nearly 0 mN/m.

Based on the interfacial tension results, three compositions rich in the nonionic emulsifier were evaluated with each base. The alkyd emulsions neutralized with sodium hydroxide had a solid content of about 49 wt%, particle sizes ranging from 200 to 230 nm, and a zeta potential of around -40 mV. These emulsions, formulated with a drier recommended for water-based formulations, had a drying time close to 5 hours. The stable emulsions neutralized with triethylamine had a solid content of about 49 wt%, particle sizes ranging from 240 to 320 nm, a zeta potential of around -50 mV, and a drying time ranging between 3 to 4 hours.

The strategies developed in this work are also being applied to the emulsification of other resins, beyond alkyd resins. This includes important classes of resins such as epoxy resins. "

Please visit our exhibitors in the exhibit hall - Grand Ballroom D.

Co-Authors:
R. Severac, T.T. Tran, C. Kustner, A. Becker, G. Schlatter, S. Le Calve , A. Hebraud

Abstract
"Driven by environmental, health, and safety concerns, coatings technologies have undergone a dramatic shift in the past few decades driven by the reduction of VOCs and other hazardous materials in coating formulations. The continuous development and improvement of waterborne technologies has enabled many solvent-based systems to be replaced with waterborne chemistries that contain significantly lower VOC content than their solvent-based counterparts. VOC levels have been pushed even lower by the development of low-VOC and zero-VOC water-based formulations. A continuation of this trend emerging in the global coatings industry has been focused on the development of functional coatings that not only limit emissions of VOCs into the environment but actively extract and remove VOCs that have originated from other sources. A functional coating with VOC remediation capability could improve indoor air quality and provide a means to scavenge VOC emissions from sources that have proven to be more challenging to address.

This investigation is based on two different methodologies. In a first part, ISO 16000-23 European standard has been used as an initial demonstration of the formaldehyde scavenging efficiency of a conventional zero-VOC decorative paint containing tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane and 2-amino-2-ethyl-1,3-propanediol. Even if extended to 6 weeks, this dynamic test is not able to determine the real full scavenging capacity of the studied material. A new method has been developed with the intend to experimentally measure the full capacity of adsorption, and also to test several pollutants present in indoor environment over formaldehyde, enabling to characterize the scavenging versatility of these additives".

Abstract

Silicone materials are increasingly valued in the paint and coatings industry because of their advantageous properties of high temperature stability, moisture resistance coupled with breathability, and superior resistance to weathering. Although traditionally processed in volatile organic solvents, sustainability commitments and customer demand are driving a transition to waterborne approaches. At present, waterborne silicone-containing binders are still uncommon because they are notoriously difficult to prepare. We recently presented the development of a novel waterborne silicone-organo copolymer binder for industrial coatings. These copolymer dispersions have nearly zero VOC. When used in conjunction with a curing agent, they provide durable crosslinked film coatings on metal surfaces, with excellent hardness, solvent resistance and weatherability. They are excellent binders for a variety of organic and inorganic pigments. Here we discuss their outstanding stability to extended accelerated weathering conditions when used in conjunction with pigments

Abstract

Block copolymer (BCP) thin films have a wide range of applications from membrane technologies for gas separation to energy applications including solid electrolytes. The nanoscale morphology of BCPs plays a critical role in the bulk material properties and subsequent applications. In addition to chemical structure, various processing conditions have been demonstrated to impact BCP morphology and can be leveraged as tunable parameters. To achieve precise control over BCP solid state morphology, processing conditions require optimization. This talk presents a novel approach for the high throughput analysis of grazing incidence small-angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS) data and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images, characterizing BCP thin film morphology. The curated dataset was used to train 11 unique machine learning (ML) models to predict BCP morphological properties from processing parameters including solvent ratio and additive amount. ML models were able to relatively accurately predict the extent of ordering of BCP thin films measured by GISAXS but struggled with AFM measurements. The decreased performance by the models predicting the AFM-based measurements can be attributed to the variability within the AFM measurements. Despite this variability, a convolutional neural network (CNN) trained on the AFM images was highly accurate, correctly classifying over 93% of images into ordered/disordered categories. While performance of ML models is crucial, interpretability of the predictions is equally important. For this purpose, the Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) was used to interpret the predictions of the models. Additive amount was the most influential processing parameter on morphological output predictions, which agrees with the physical understanding of the system. Additionally, the SHAP deep explainer demonstrated the successful interpretation of the AFM images by the CNN. This framework leveraging ML and high throughput data analysis lays the foundation for BCP thin film processing optimization with an expanded design space.

Abstract

Recent popularity of thin aluminum flakes for chrome replacement has stimulated development activities to push the limits of color and performance of these pigments in waterbased systems.  This presentation will explore the multiple options for surface treatments of these aluminum flakes and the effect these treatments have on final color, sparkle, opacity, gassing, dispersion, shear and chemical resistance in both interior and exterior coatings.  Visual assessment and instrumental analysis of coatings containing these pigments will be discussed.  Also addressed will be the options available for pigment carrier and delivery form, such as paste, powder and solvent free granules, designed to perform in the most demanding low VOC coating systems.  Proper dispersion and formulating practices will also be explored.  

Join us in our Exhibit Hall for Coffee and Networking

Abstract

The colloidal capability team at PPG focuses on understanding how colloidal properties such as particle size and particle-particle interactions drive the stability and performance of paint formulations. The colloidal system emphasized in this talk is pigments, which are ubiquitous in the coatings industry and play a crucial role by providing properties such as color, opacity, protection, and durability. Furthermore, pigment stability against sedimentation and aggregation is essential to ensure that these properties remain consistent over time, even when exposed to changing environmental conditions. In this talk, we will present techniques that efficiently assess the stability of pigments and fundamental properties that drive it. 

Co-Authors: Dr. Peter Greenwood, Global Technical Development Manager, Inorganic Specialties, Nouryon

Abstract

One of the primary challenges for low-VOC coatings is achieving smooth film formation, acceptable block resistance, and adequate film hardness. Block resistance depends on both bulk and surface properties. This article examines the effects of adding colloidal silica on the block resistance of acrylic paint. Colloidal silica enhances the hardness and durability of coatings, improving their resistance to abrasion, scratches, and other properties. Additionally, it contributes to smoother film formation and better weather resistance, making the coating less likely to stick to itself when two painted surfaces come into contact.

Co-Authors: Hieu Ngo, Daniel Scholz

Abstract:
The market demand to replace dyne pens for faster, more accurate contact angle and surface energy results which can be made directly in the production area has fueled the development of very sophisticated portable, handheld contact angle goniometers. These devices are growing in popularity and allow immediate measurement of contact angle and surface energy with minimal operator expertise or training required. However, the question arises as to how results obtained using such a handheld device with two test liquids will compare in accuracy and repeatability to the more traditional, lab-scale devices which offer the ability to make high-speed movie measurements of droplet spreading and use as many as three or even four different test liquids. This lecture will compare and contrast contact angle and surface energy results obtained using both a handheld versus a lab-style research-grade contact angle goniometer. Real-world advantages and disadvantages of these two types of measurement devices will be presented.

Co-Author(s):
Nicholas Foley, Cheng-Le Zhao, Mohsen Soleimani, Mitchell A. Winnik, Yang Liu, Sze Hang Wong, Ilias Halimi, Richard Fuku, John Hou, Gilbert Walker

Abstract
In the coatings industry, additives play a significant role in achieving the desired properties of coatings. One class of additives, acid-rich oligomers, improve properties of coatings, such as hardness, block resistance, and stain resistance. However, the distribution and influence of these acid rich oligomers on film formation are not well understood. In this research, we study the distribution of an acid-rich oligomer in latex films and its influence on film formation. We utilize Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate the film formation process. The distribution of acid-rich oligomer depends on the particle size of the latex dispersion, the degree of neutralization of the acid-rich oligomer dispersion, and the amount of acid-rich oligomer in the blend. CLSM and AFM reveal that the acid-rich oligomer, under specific conditions, phase separates and concentrates at the surface of the film. At the surface of the film, acid-rich oligomer acts as mortar between latex particles, resulting in a higher average Young's modulus. FRET reveals that the acid-rich oligomer present in the interstices of the latex particles retard latex particles interdiffusion and film formation. Thus, a combination of analytical techniques elucidates the distribution of acid rich oligomer in the polymer film.

Mark your calendars for an unforgettable evening at the historic Toulouse Theatre for the 2024 Waterborne Symposium! Revel in pre-dinner cocktails while swaying to the sounds of the Louis Ford Jazz Trio, and seize the opportunity to network with industry peers in this timeless venue.

615 Toulouse St
New Orleans, LA 70130
Click here for directions.

At PPG, we work every day to develop and deliver the paints, coatings and specialty materials that our customers have trusted for 140 years. Through dedication and creativity, we solve our customers’ biggest challenges, collaborating closely to find the right path forward. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, we operate and innovate in more than 70 countries. We serve customers in construction, consumer products, industrial and transportation markets and aftermarkets. To learn more, visit www.ppg.com.

615 Toulouse Street has a robust history of presenting the very best in live music and entertainment from across the world since 1970, right in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Construction on the current building began in 1969, when the facility was built to house a single screen Walter Reade cinema featuring first-run films.
In June of 1977, the facility began its history as a live performance space, with an opening night performance by The Neville Brothers. In the late 1970s and Early 1980s, the theatre was known for hosting regular performances of Vernel Bagneris’s vaudeville musical One Mo Time!, and the lobby bar hosted regular performances by James Booker.
The venue began it’s rise to prominence as a national touring destination when Morgan Higby Night opened his Shim Sham Club here in 1998. Shortly after the Shim Sham Club closed in 2003, Rio Hackford and Ryan Hesseling reopened the venue as One Eyed Jacks, which they operated until March of 2020.
After the closure of One Eyed Jacks, the property was renovated and reborn as the Toulouse Theatre again in October 2021.
The Toulouse Theatre continues to operate as a proudly independent venue, committed to presenting live entertainment from around the world in the heart of New Orleans.