Efficacy of Wax Emulsion

Sep 29, 2021

Wax emulsion is an important additive for coating materials, which can significantly improve the softness, plasticity and hand feel of the leather coating layer.
Wax emulsion is a multi-phase emulsion of natural wax, synthetic wax and other materials dispersed in water under the action of emulsifier. The preparation method is mainly phase inversion emulsification method.
Low-melting wax can give the leather surface a waxy feel, moderately close the grain surface and improve the accumulation of the skin, and prevent sticking to the board during ironing or embossing. The wax emulsion with a higher melting point can impart high gloss, can be polished, has excellent transparency, and can be used for aniline finishing.

Application range editing Voice
Wax emulsion used in the leather industry
(1) Wax emulsion can be compounded with fatliquor
Compounding a small amount of emulsifying wax in the fatliquor improves and improves the effect of the fatliquor. Tests have shown that compounding 1% to 5% wax emulsion in the fatliquor can improve the filling performance of the fatliquor. Improve the penetration performance of the fatliquor in the leather fiber, increase the waterproof performance of the leather, and make the leather feel smooth, soft and plump.
(2) Wax emulsion is used as an additive in leather finishing
Adding emulsified wax to the leather finishing agent mainly plays the role of filling the coating, improving the coating feel, abrasion resistance, anti-sticking, and increasing gloss. In the early days, beeswax, carnauba wax, insect wax, white wax, montan wax, etc. were used as raw materials to prepare emulsified waxes. The output of these waxes was limited and the price was high. In recent years, there have been reports of using paraffin wax as the main raw material to prepare leather wax emulsion. Using paraffin wax as the main raw material can greatly reduce the price of wax emulsion, and the use effect is no worse than natural wax. It is the main assistant for finishing high-end leather and can give leather a special brightness and waxy feel. From the use, it can be divided into soft wax and hard wax, which are respectively used for the bottom, middle and top coating of leather; from the ionic nature of the emulsion, it can be divided into non-ionic, anionic and cationic wax emulsions, which can be combined with different ionic properties. Compatible with the finishing agent; from the dosage form, it can be made into emulsion type or solid emulsified wax. All products have good water solubility, stable emulsion, no delamination and no floating wax in long-term storage. It can be applied to the finishing of various leathers. The finished leather has a soft and natural luster, a full and moist hand feel, and can improve the friction resistance of the leather surface.
(3) Emulsified wax is used as leather brightener, matting agent and feel agent, etc.
People have two major requirements for the appearance of leather products. One is to increase the luster of the leather, such as polished leather, patent leather, polished effect leather, etc.; the other is not to have a sense of luster, so that the leather presents a sense of leather and natural beauty. The former requires the use of brighteners, the latter requires the use of matting agents. When choosing different wax emulsions for the top layer of leather, some can increase the leather's luster or brightness, and some can produce a matting effect to present the charm of leather. The wax emulsion that produces the bright effect requires a small particle size and a relatively simple composition. A uniform and continuous wax film is formed on the surface of the leather. The film is very smooth in the microscopic view, and has a strong reflection effect on light waves, thus having a sense of gloss. ; The wax emulsion that produces the matting effect has a large particle size, forming a heterogeneous and microscopically uneven surface on the leather surface, which has a strong scattering effect on light waves, which is the fundamental reason for the matting effect of the matting agent.
Wax emulsion used in the construction industry
Used as a curing agent for reinforced concrete. During the curing process of concrete, if the moisture on the surface evaporates too fast, a series of chemical reactions during the solidification process will not be completed, and the maximum compressive strength of its surface will not be reached. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the moisture from evaporating too quickly during the curing of the concrete. For this reason, the industry has developed a thin film curing agent based on emulsified wax. The use of this curing agent avoids unnecessary surface water evaporation and promotes the hydration of cement.

Wax emulsion used in agriculture
Gardening practice has proved that plants mainly rely on roots to absorb water, and the evaporation of water is lost from the surface of the leaves. The plant itself does not consume a lot of water. For example, coating the surface of its leaves with a water-proof evaporation spray film can greatly reduce the evaporation of water on the surface of the leaves. The amount of water required by plants is less than 50% of their total. Since the 1960s, the United States and other technologically advanced countries have adopted the method of spraying emulsified wax in the agricultural field in order to prevent fruit trees and shrubs from being dormant in winter or losing water during transplantation and transportation. A large number of agricultural emulsified wax patents. Emulsified wax liquid is mainly used for:
Planting of saplings—before planting pine and eucalyptus seedlings in the field, they are immersed in emulsified wax. After treatment, the saplings are significantly improved in enduring the impact of transplantation or the tolerance to adversity climatic conditions. Due to the reduction of water evaporation on the leaf surface, its survival rate has been significantly improved.
Garden nursery planting-in the pruning or transplanting process, through emulsified wax treatment, its survival rate can be significantly improved. If a large number of shrubs need to be transplanted in the dry season, spraying emulsified wax in advance can ensure safe transplantation.
Resist drought and keep fresh-saplings and shrubs after being sprayed with emulsified wax, they can well withstand severe drought conditions. After the flowers are picked, they can be soaked in water in advance, and then treated with emulsified wax, the life of the flowers can be significantly prolonged.
Wax emulsion used in the paper industry
In the process of paper selection, most of the paper has an inner rubber material inside, which can make the inherent absorbent web of the paper fiber have an ideal water resistance strength. Traditional fillers generally use resin, such as emulsified wax, which can replace 20%-40% of the traditional resin. Adding paraffin microemulsion can reduce the moisture absorption of paper and promote the uniform distribution of gum in the paper fiber structure. Another advantage of adding emulsifying wax is that it can offset the influence of the resin binder when mixed with various pigments, so the printability can be improved and the printing efficiency can be improved. The sized paper in the beating machine can usually be further processed and refined through its surface sizing material or coating. A new variety of emulsified wax is being developed as a hydrophobic agent for the production of high-end printing paper.

Wax emulsion used for wood-based panels
Man-made boards include fiberboard and particleboard. These two kinds of boards are products of comprehensive utilization of wood in the wood industry. In addition to wood fibers or wood chips, they also need a certain proportion of rubber materials to make wood fibers or wood chips undergo hot pressing. Processing glue synthetic type. A certain amount of emulsified wax is mixed with rubber to make the wood water resistant and improve the surface finish. Due to the small particle size of emulsified wax, in the artificial board manufacturing process, by effectively breaking the emulsion, the tiny wax particles can be separated from the water phase and uniformly adsorbed on the wood fiber. Particleboard and fiberboard produced by emulsified wax.
Wax emulsion for wood waterproofing
The emulsified wax is evenly coated on the surface of the wood that needs to be waterproofed by soaking or spraying. Because the emulsified wax has a small particle size, it can naturally penetrate into the wood, and drying can achieve the waterproof effect.
Wax emulsion is used in light industry and rubber industry
In light industry and rubber industry, emulsified wax can be used as polish, coating and auxiliary agent. In the pre-vulcanization process of manufacturing latex gloves, or in the glue mixing tank, the emulsified wax can be added in an amount of 1.5 to 2.5, which can improve the anti-sticking property of the mold and facilitate the release of the glove. For some purposes, adding emulsifying wax to the formula of emulsion can improve the performance of latex.

Wax emulsion used in ceramic industry
In the process of porcelain production, it is often necessary to add emulsified wax to make up for the poor plasticity or improve the strength of the original product for kaolin with poor texture. At the same time, the use of emulsified wax can also replace the expensive vinyl acetate. In the ceramic production process, adding emulsified wax can not only improve the strength of the original porcelain product, but also improve its lubricity.