AS SEEN IN

Paint Coatings Industry

Globally Serving Liquid and Powder Manufacturers and Formulators

Silicone
Versatility
Anti-Flooding and Anti-Floating Titanium Dioxide Dispersants

W ith a wide range of pigments, fill-

ers and resin binders used across
multiple applications, flooding
and floating remain an issue for
the coating and ink industries.
In this article, we evaluate
how silicone additives can be
used beyond the traditional FIGURE 1 | In-can obser-
benefits, and demonstrate
vation of floating.
Flooding and Floating
Silicones are well known for their surface activity and
the benefit this brings to inks and coatings. The ver-
satile architecture of these materials means they can
deliver a wide range of properties, such as slip, haptics,
wetting and leveling. These silicone materials are typi-
cally low molecular weight and non-reactive, in order
to ensure they migrate quickly to the ink or coating
surface to do their job.
how these additives can While silanes are known for pigment and filler disper-
bring added performance sion, silicones are not. Non-silicone products for this
in titanium dioxide-based benefit are typically organic dispersants such as polycar-
formulations to prevent this boxylic acid polymers, or polyurethane polymers.
age-old problem. Floating is a phenomenon that occurs in TiO2-based
white, pastel and grey formulations, and is caused by the
pigments and fillers present separating from the organic
resin binder and one another in the liquid phase due to
FIGURE 2 | Pigment concentration and flooding by rub-out testing. incompatibility. This incompatibility, due to density dif-
ferences and pigment and filler surface treatments, leads
to the pigments rising to the surface of the paint, causing
in-can instability (Figure 1).
Coating Color difference When pigments and fillers in paint are not stabilized,
is observed you can also experience separation and concentration
Substrate
! after rubbing of one pigment at the surface of the film upon drying.
by finger This non-uniform pigment concentration throughout
the thickness of the film is known as ‘flooding’. This may
TABLE 1 | Silicone materials used as pigment dispersants. result in a failure to develop the intended color (Figure
2), or differences in color may be seen depending on film
Molecular Traditional Target thickness or application technique.
Product Weight Reactivity % Solids Benefit in Coatings
Comparison and Inks Silicone Pigment and Filler Dispersants
Dow Corning 67 In theory, an effective pigment treatment to prevent
Low Carbinol 100 Wetting
Additive flooding and floating needs to be able to interact with
Dow Corning 57 the pigment or filler surface and achieve excellent
Medium None 100 Slip
Additive compatibility with the organic resin binders. Here we
Dow Corning 3 review how the silicone structure impacts anti-flooding
High Silanol 10 Pigment dispersant
Additive and anti-floating performance, and demonstrate how

By Vicky James, Coatings and Composites Application Leader; and Robin Shen, Coatings Application Specialist |
Dow Corning® Corporation, Midland, MI

Reprinted with permission from the November 2012 issue of Paint & Coatings Industry magazine

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 Silicone Versatility

Dow Corning ® 3 Additive gives excellent performance • A modified polyurethane (50% actives);
at low addition levels. • An unsaturated polycarboxylic acid polymer + polysi-
Table 1 shows a series of silicone-based products that were loxane copolymer (50% actives).
evaluated in solventborne formulations. Traditional organic Flooding and floating are particular issues in carbon
dispersants on the market were used as benchmarks: black-based paint formulations, so here we present the
anti-flooding and anti-floating properties of the given
FIGURE 3 | Ratings used to assess floating by in-can observation. technologies in a 2K polyurethane solvent-based grey
wood coating as an example of performance. In the first
instance the materials were added into the base paint
1 = Heavy 3 = Some degree 5 = No during the pigment grind stage. All materials were added
floating of floating floating at 0.22% by weight to the total formulation, equivalent to
2% of TiO2 solids (Table 2).

Performance
After production, the well-mixed paint was poured into a can
and allowed to stand for 30 min. After this time the surface
of the paint was given a rating between 1 and 5 according
to the degree of pigment floating on the surface (Figure 3).
The traditional industry rub-out test was used to assess
the flooding properties of the mixed paint. The paint was
drawn down onto a LENETA chart and rubbed by finger.
FIGURE 4 | In-can observation and rub-out results in a solvent-based 2K The color difference (ΔE) between the rubbed surface and
PU gray wood coating. unrubbed surface was measured spectrophotometrically;
the larger ΔE value means heavier flooding.
5 If we first compare the performance of the silicone
4.5 In-Can Floang materials at different molecular weights, we can clearly see
4 (1 = Heavy floang,
3.5 how this property influences performance. With the lower-
5 = No floang)
3 molecular-weight surface-active additives, Dow Corning
2.5 Rub Out ΔE 67 and 57, we see little impact on anti-flooding and anti-
2 (Higher ΔE = floating properties. Adding the high-molecular-weight,
1.5 Heavier flooding)
1 reactive Dow Corning 3, we see excellent anti-floating and
0.5 anti-flooding performance. This is more impressive perhaps
0 when we consider that Dow Corning 3 is only a 10% actives
solution and, therefore, the active silicone level in the paint
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2%
2%

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better anti-floating and anti-flooding results when added

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FIGURE 5 | In-can observation and rub-out results at lower addition levels TABLE 2 | Formulation used.
of Dow Corning 3 in a solvent-based 2K PU gray wood coating.
Component Parts, Wt%
Rexin® AP 572
5 29.13
(short oil alkyd resin)
(base – grind)

4.5
In-Can Floang
Thinner 3.53
Part A

4 (1 = Heavy floang,
3.5 5 = No floang) Dispersant 0.22
3
Antifoam 0.04
2.5 Rub Out ΔE
2 (Higher ΔE = TiO2 11.14
1.5 Heavier flooding)
(tinting paint/

Black pigment paste 7.39

colorant)

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 at the same weight % addition level to the formulation.
FIGURE 6 | Post-addition of Dow Corning 3 in a solvent-based 2K PU gray
We should, however, be mindful that price pressures in
wood coating.
the market may require the formulator to use less pigment
5
dispersant in their formulation. For this reason we tested
Dow Corning 3 at a lower dosage rate versus organic 4 In-Can Floang
solutions (Figure 5) and found that it keeps its high effec- (1 = Heavy floang,
3 5 = No floang)
tiveness even at very low dosage levels due to its unique
chemistry. After reducing the dosage level to less than 2 Rub Out ΔE
half of the original level, a high rating 4 for in-can float- (Higher ΔE =
ing was still achieved, and almost no change on flooding 1 Heavier flooding)
indicated by ΔE.
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Post-Addition Performance

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Although most effective in the grind stage, Dow Corning

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3 additive also can be post-added to prevent floating and

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mulator has no control over the quality of the base or tint

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paint they are using, and when formulating at a local level

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they may still see floating or flooding. This material will

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provide improvements in anti-flooding and anti-floating Do
even when used as a post-additive, a feature beyond tradi- bone then act to compatibilize the treated pigment/filler
tional dispersants on the market today. with the organic binder. The pigments/fillers are stabilized
To assess this post-additive performance, a traditional due to steric hindrance provided by the high-molecular-
organic dispersant was used in the preparation of the base weight silicone backbone and by low intermolecular forces
paint (Competitor 1 was used) – this is the control shown preventing the flocculation of pigment.
in Figure 6. Dow Corning 3 and Competitor 2 were then
post-added to this control base paint at only 0.03 weight% Summary
based on the total formulation. Dow Corning 3 improved While silicones can offer many benefits to the formulator,
floating and reduced rub-out (ΔE) even at this low post- choosing the right chemistry for the right job is critical.
addition level. This post-addition performance allows for Dow Corning 3 additive offers a high-molecular-weight,
more flexibility in formulating. reactive material to the market that can improve paint
consistency by preventing flooding and floating. Using
How Does it Work in Theory? this additive either in the pigment grinding or by post
It is hypothesized that the silicone resin wets the surface of addition at a very low addition level, allows the formulator
the inorganic pigment/filler (e.g., titanium dioxide), where to achieve excellent cost-in-use performance. 䡲
the reactive SiOH group then reacts to anchor it to the sur-
face. Organic groups also present on the silicone resin back- For more information, visit www.dowcorning.com.

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