Paint formulations consist of binders, pigments, solvents and additives, in which additives play a very important role, even at low dosages. Each additive has a functional importance in the final coating. Some of the main properties additives achieve are wetting and dispersion, defoaming, anti-settling, anti-sagging, and flow and leveling.
Since some additives are sought after for a specific function, paint manufacturers may find themselves working with many different additives. Indirect problems that result from this include controlling inventory, monitoring quality parameters, increased cost, etc. This led researchers to develop multipurpose additives that can achieve many of the desired properties in one product – thus eliminating many of the problems listed above.