Architectural coatings formulators must continually adjust to market-driven performance criteria, more stringent environmental standards and economic pressures. Most recently, paint manufacturers around the globe are promoting the elimination of alkyl phenol ethoxylate (APE)-containing products in their architectural paint formulations.
In addition, VOCs are also being reduced or eliminated from today’s formulations. All of these actions help to promote environmentally friendly and greener formulations, but at what price to performance? Concerns regarding the environment and persistent toxic materials have forced customers to search for new additives with equivalent or improved performance at the same prices they are currently paying for traditional additives. A new, environmentally friendly wetting agent for architectural coatings has been developed that can be used as a drop-in replacement for simple and modified APEs. This new, APE-free surfactant offers efficient wetting of titanium dioxide during grinding, improved freeze-thaw and viscosity stability in the formulated paint, improved foam control, better scrub resistance, and improved flow and leveling, all without contributing additional VOCs to the paint formulation.