Improving the Properties of Waterborne Coatings with High-Performance SMA Resins
Sartomer's SMA® multifunctional resins are a family of low-molecular-weight resins that include styrene/maleic anhydride, amic acids, imides, copolymer base resins, partial esters of the base resins, and aqueous ammonia salt solutions of the base resins and ester resins. The SMA resins are used in a variety of coating applications including paper sizing, powder coating, pigment dispersions, inks and overprint varnishes (OPVs). In these and other applications, they impart excellent performance properties while contributing to the aesthetic quality of the finished piece.
The discussion in this paper will focus on the development of waterborne overprint varnish formulations and how formulators can derive the maximum benefit by including SMA resins. A solubility table of various SMA resins is also presented for systems that use solvents as a base.