Forgotten Formulation Attributes to Defoaming Test Methods

By David E. Przybyla, John Mangano, Wolfgang Peter, Frank Pirrung

As new coating formulations are being developed to comply with increasingly stringent environmental constraints, application properties are still expected to be maintained or improved over previous performance standards. This poses major challenges to both raw material suppliers and coating formulators globally. To tackle this problem, coating formulations and raw materials must continually be innovated as new regulations are introduced.

For example, as VOC levels are reduced through formulation changes and new zero-VOC products are introduced, additional surfactants are often supplemented to help improve the stability of the paint. These complex surfactant combinations have subsequently influenced the defoaming needs in modern coating formulations. Specifically, defoamers that were once effective are no longer acceptable for the elimination of macrofoam during manufacturing and microfoam formation during the final application of a film.

To address these new technical challenges, more efficient defoamers must be produced that do not contribute to the total VOC content or adversely affect other performance properties.