| Conventional coalescing agents such as butyl cellosolve, butyl carbitol, and Texanol® are widely use in the latex coatings industry to facilitate film formation at ambient temperature. Coalescent aids are composed of solvents with low evaporation rates. After water evaporates, coalescent aids would help soften polymer molecules and form continuous films, then gradually evaporates from the film. Coalescent aids, therefore, are considered as volatile organic compounds (VOC), which are of environmental concern.; The main purpose of this research project was to prepare a fatty acid glycol ester from soybean oil and glycol (polyols). The soybean oil glycol ester can be used as a coalescent aid in latex paint formulation. The soybean oil glycol ester not only lowered the minimum film formation temperature of latex polymers and continuous film formed at ambient temperature, but also after it has facilitated film formation, does not substantially evaporate, but becomes part of the film. Soybean oil glycol esters, therefore, can reduce the VOC levels and facilitate film formation of latex paints.; In the second part of this research AC-Impedance was used to investigate the efficiency of soybean oil coalescent aid in latex film formation relative to the conventional ones. The coating resistance showed that the efficiency of film formation was increased as a function of dry time. The coating resistance also exhibited the effect of soybean oil ester in latex film formation in the same fashion as a conventional coalescent aid, Texanol®. |
