Classification and Market Development of Water-based Coatings

Apr 9, 2021

Any paint that uses water as a solvent or as a dispersion medium can be called a water-based paint. According to the type of binder in the paint, water-based paints are divided into two categories: natural water-based paints made of natural substances or minerals (such as potassium silicate) and petrochemical water-based paints made of synthetic resins (such as acrylic resins). Only the water-based paint of artificial synthetic resin is described here.
Water-based paint includes three types: water-soluble paint, water-reducible paint, and water-dispersible paint (latex paint). Water-soluble coatings use water-soluble resin as the film-forming material, represented by polyvinyl alcohol and various modified products, in addition to water-soluble alkyd resins, water-soluble epoxy resins, and inorganic polymer water-based resins.

Water-reducible paint refers to a paint prepared from a post-emulsified emulsion as a film-forming material. The solvent-based resin is dissolved in an organic solvent, and then with the help of an emulsifier, the resin is dispersed in water to form an emulsion by strong mechanical stirring. The emulsified emulsion can be diluted with water during construction. Water-dispersed coatings mainly refer to coatings prepared with synthetic resin emulsion as a film-forming material.

Emulsion refers to a dispersed emulsion composed of small particle clusters dispersed in water by the polymerization of unsaturated vinyl monomers under certain temperature conditions in the process of mechanical stirring in the presence of an emulsifier. Coatings prepared by adding a little latex to water-soluble resins cannot be called latex coatings. Strictly speaking, water-reducible paints cannot be called latex paints, but they are also classified as latex paints customarily.
As the name suggests, water-based paint is a paint that uses water as a medium. For example, all of our interior and exterior wall paints, metal paints, automotive paints, etc. have corresponding water-based paint products. It can be seen that water-based paint has been widely used in many industries.


1. Material processing: First, use the material (aluminum or stainless steel) with (360℃×30 minutes~380℃×10 minutes) air firing or solvent cleaning for the first step of degreasing, the second step is surface roughening, corundum can be used Sand 80#~100#, pressure 0.4~0.6mpa, sand thickness: (2.0~3.5)μm
Two: Spraying of the primer: Before the primer is used, it must be fully rolled 120 revolutions/minute, not less than 2 hours/time, and not less than once a week. The processed materials (must be clean, dry, and free of any grease , Pollution, do not touch the sand surface with your hands, otherwise it will seriously affect the adhesion, and even cause peeling) lay flat, use (1.0~1.5) mmФ spray gun pressure to adjust to (0.2~0.3) mpa distance (20~30) cm , Spray directly, use (120-150)℃×(5-8) minutes, the thickness of the coating film after surface drying is (10~15)μm
Three: Spraying of surface coating μm: The same surface coating must be rolled at a slow speed of 100 revolutions/min, 3 hours/time before use. It must be fully stirred and evenly cooled, and the coated workpiece can be cooled to room temperature. Carry out the construction of the surface layer (the surface should be absolutely clean and free from any pollution) with a spray gun nozzle of (1.0~1.5) mmФ, the pressure is adjusted to (0.2~0.3) mpa, the distance is (20~30) cm, and the temperature is 120 ℃× After drying for 5 minutes and then sintering at 380℃×30 minutes, the total coating film after sintering is (20~23)μm. (Insufficient sintering will affect the adhesion, and the physical properties of the coating will be reduced. Excessive sintering will also make the coating performance worse, so please be careful when applying.)

Although there are many brands of water-based wood lacquers on the market, according to the differences in their main ingredients, they can be divided into the following three categories:
1. Water-based wood paint with acrylic acid as the main component. The main feature is good adhesion and will not deepen the color of the wood, but it has poor wear resistance and chemical resistance, and the hardness of the paint film is soft. The pencil method test is HB, plump Poor degree, general performance, and easy to produce defects in construction. Because of its low cost and low technical content, it is the main product that most water-based paint companies push to the market. This is why most people think that water-based paint is not good. The advantage is that it is cheap.
2. Water-based wood paint based on the composition of acrylic and polyurethane as the main component. In addition to inheriting the characteristics of acrylic paint, it also adds the characteristics of abrasion resistance and chemical resistance. Some companies label it as water-based polyester paint. The hardness of the paint film is better, the pencil rule test is 1H, the fullness is better, and the overall performance is close to oil paint. At present, only a few domestic enterprises can produce.
3. It is a polyurethane water-based paint with superior comprehensive performance and high fullness. The hardness of the paint film can reach 1.5-2H, and its wear resistance even exceeds that of oil-based paint. It has obvious advantages in terms of service life and color allocation. It is the advanced water-based paint. Products, this technology is only mastered by a few professional companies in the world.
Although the types are clear, it is not easy to distinguish the water-based wood paints on the market. Because the names and component labels of water-based paints are not uniform by various manufacturers, it is easy to confuse consumers. For example, water-based paints with acrylic as the main component have two standard methods: acrylic and polyurethane. It is best for consumers to use the method of sniffing to assist in the judgment: acrylic acid has a sour taste, polyurethane has a slight oily scent. Of course, the most reliable way is to buy products produced by professional water-based wood paint manufacturers.

The development of water-based wood coatings in China has gone through a difficult process for more than 10 years, and the road to industrialization is still very far away. The China Coatings Industry Association held the first Water-based Wood Coatings Development Seminar in Guangzhou, aiming to promote the domestic R&D, promotion and application of water-based wood coatings.
According to reports, although the industry association is very enthusiastic about the promotion of water-based wood coatings, and there are many domestic coating companies that come to the conference, there are many companies waiting and watching, but few really want to get involved. This phenomenon is vividly called "the industry is hot, the market is cold" by the relevant people of the coating association. The promotion of water-based wood coatings is very beneficial to the rational use of resources and the improvement of environmental sanitation.

Due to the enhanced operability of the construction of water-based wood coatings, well-known domestic decoration companies plan to use water-based wood coatings in an all-round way, and train painters to form a corresponding construction team to initiate a water-based movement. Today, with increasing attention to coating safety and environmental protection indicators, water-based wood coatings are gradually being accepted by the market because of their low-hazard and low-pollution characteristics.

Water-based wood coatings are the development direction of the wood coatings market in the future. There is no doubt that the needs of enterprises for safe production, the improvement of employee safety awareness, the increase of labor costs, the importance of raw material companies on the research and development of water-based wood coatings, and the development of water-based wood coatings by coating companies Coatings and other factors have contributed to the irreversible development of water-based wood coatings. The first is the guidance of government policies; the second is the popularization and demand of environmental protection concepts; the third is the need for enterprise transformation and upgrading.