Sucrose ester oil technology (Sefose®, P&G) provides a viable alternative to glycerin-based oils for alkyd emulsions.
Sucrose ester oil technology (Sefose®, P&G) provides a viable alternative to glycerin-based oils for alkyd emulsions. Sefose is a highly esterified sucrose polyester made from sugar and vegetable oils. Sucrose esters essentially consist of a sucrose backbone and natural fatty acid residues linked to sucrose through ester bonds (Figure 1). Up to eight fatty acid chains can be attached onto sucrose, offering a compact crosslinking structure to an auto-oxidizing paint system like an alkyd. This higher functionality of fatty chains provides increased hydrophobicity for water resistance, higher crosslink density for improved chemical resistance and faster dry than glycerin-based oils. This molecule is a winner of the 2009 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, presented jointly to CCP and Procter & Gamble by the EPA.
Although sucrose ester alkyds lend themselves to high solids solventborne resin systems, they can also be adapted to emulsion resin systems for formulation of very low-VOC waterborne coatings with high organic renewable content.