Wax powder can effectively improve the surface properties of coatings, mainly including changing the coating's smoothness, scratch resistance, feel, hydrophobicity, matting, and rheological properties. The specific functions and mechanisms are as follows:
1,Anti-Slip, Anti-Blocking, Stain Resistance
Blocking mainly refers to the adhesion between coatings or the coating surface and external substances, as well as the adhesion caused by exposure to dust, dirt, and pressure in the atmosphere. Wax additives can effectively solve the anti-blocking performance of the coating film.
Principle of action: Wax additives in the coating system gradually migrate to the surface of the coating film during the curing and drying process, forming a layer of evenly arranged wax particle "film" on the film surface. This arranged "film" can make the coating surface produce anti-blocking effect, while the hardness of the wax particles produces corresponding anti-abrasion and anti-scratch effects simultaneously.
How does the wax migrate to the surface during the coating curing process? This is related to the interaction between the wax and the coating matrix, the curing and drying process of the coating, the thickness of the coating, the particle size of the wax, the dispersion state of the wax particles, and the properties and density of the wax.
To improve the coating's anti-friction, scratch resistance, and abrasion resistance, it is necessary to increase the contact hardness of the coating and reduce the friction coefficient of the coating surface, so that the sliding tendency of the object in contact with the coating surface is greater than the scratching tendency. Choosing appropriate wax particles only requires a small proportion of the amount, the wax particles migrate to the coating surface during the coating curing process, which can significantly reduce the dynamic friction coefficient of the coating surface and achieve anti-scratch effect. Adding wax additives to the coating greatly reduces the tendency of the coating to be polished by friction, thereby maintaining the durability of various gloss requirements.
Glossiness is a parameter that measures the ability of a coating surface to reflect light projected onto it in a direction symmetrical to the normal line at the reflection angle. The larger the proportion of reflected light, the higher the glossiness. Wax particles that migrate to the coating surface during coating curing process reflect and refract the light, causing the light projected onto the coating surface to be reflected and weakened in another direction, resulting in a certain matting effect. The matting effect varies depending on the particle size and type of wax powder.
To achieve good gloss retention to deep matting, it can be achieved by adding different wax powders, that is, by selecting and adding different particle sizes and amounts of wax powder to control the matting strength of the coating surface.
Some micronized wax varieties have a large specific surface area. Due to their good dispersibility, they can increase the consistency of the coating body and also help the coating to position the pigments. Wax is dispersed in aromatic and aliphatic solvents, which can increase the anti-settling properties of coatings and inks, showing different degrees of thixotropy, anti-sagging properties, and the positioning of metallic pigments.
Wax additives can effectively improve the feel of the coating surface, making the coating have a good waxy and silky feel due to different particle sizes and friction coefficients. It can also achieve some unique visual effects on the coating surface, which are commonly referred to as the wax feel.