Resin Terminology
Do you know your resin terminology?
Resins are primary binders which provide adhesion and substrate protection and are present in all Coatings & Construction markets including adhesives, coatings, elastomers, and sealants.
The various terms for resin applications include:
- Solvents/cosolvents
- Substrate
- Solids
- Pigments
- Fillers
- Tg
- Thermoplastic resins
- Gloss
- Solvents/cosolvents dissolve resins and coalesces film formation to the substrate.
- Substrates are surfaces being coated or adhered to which require external protection by the binder resin system.
- Solids are what remain to form a protective film when a solvent evaporates, providing surface protection; this includes solute, pigments, and fillers.
- Pigments are dry coloring matter, usually insoluble powders mixed with water, oil, or another base to produce paint and similar products; they add to the overall solids of a system.
- Fillers are typically powdered materials of lower cost used to provide reinforcement and physical properties in a certain physical medium; such as a surface coating or substrate.
- Tg is the abbreviation for “glass transition temperature”, an essential physical property; temperature region where the resin polymer transitions from a hard, glassy material to a soft, rubbery material.
- Thermoplastic resins are polymers that become pliable or moldable above a specific temperature and solidify upon cooling; typically having a high Molecular Weight (MW).
- Gloss is a reflectance value defined as shine or luster on a smooth surface; typically the lower the sheen, the easier to clean.
- Full Gloss: 85-100%
- Gloss: 60-84%
- Semi-Gloss: 20-59%
- Low Sheen: 5-19%
- Flat: 0-4%
Available coatings and construction resins
Offering various resins to meet your coatings and construction application needs!
Epoxy hardeners: Availability of versatile reactant curing chemistries to tune properties (flexibility, curing properties, waterborne formulations) of thermoset epoxy resins.
Epoxy resins: Epoxy resins offer extremely good corrosion resistance, chemical resistance (acids, bases, solvents), excellent adhesion to metals, good thermal resistance, and low shrinkage. Epoxy resins are thermosetting resins reacted (crosslinked) either with themselves or with a wide range of co-reactants including polyfunctional amines, acids (and acid anhydrides). These co-reactants are often referred to as hardeners or curatives, and the cross-linking reaction is referred to as curing.
Hydrocarbon resins: A hydrocarbon resin is a C5/C9 aromatic hydrocarbon used in industrial applications. It has a tackifying effect and is suitable for use in paint, printing ink, adhesives, rubber, and other areas where tackiness is required.
Waterborne acrylic: Waterborne acrylic resins are the most common waterborne resin, used in a wide variety of applications ranging from commercial/residential paints to industrial coatings to elastomeric coatings and sealants. Resin systems vary based on monomers used in copolymer or terpolymer design and the molecular weight of the end-polymer.
Waterborne styrene-acrylics: Styrene acrylic latexes provide excellent adhesion, water resistance, and gloss development in applications such as porch and deck enamels, interior/exterior high gloss enamels, metal coatings, and traffic paints.
Waterborne vinyl-acrylics: Vinyl acrylic latexes are dependable vehicles for a wide range of architectural coatings. They enable formulation at low or zero VOC without compromising performance, and are well suited for blending with 100% acrylic latexes to optimize cost-performance.
Waterborne vinyl-versatate modified acrylics: Branched vinyl ester/versatate monomers provide enhanced properties such as exterior durability and hydrophobicity. Versatate modified acrylics deliver superior performance for a variety of exterior applications, such as coating masonry or wood.
Waterborne polyvinyl acetate (PVA): VA Homopolymers are ideally suited for interior paints. These cost-effective dispersion products offer high pigment binding capacity, leading to paints with high cohesion and therefore high scrub resistance performance.
Contact us for all your resin needs
We are your all-in-one supplier for your resin needs for all Coatings & Construction markets. We have the highest quality resin additives ranging from epoxy hardeners to waterborne acrylics we have the chemicals necessary for every application.
Our Coatings & Construction Technology & Innovation Center can help you with you resin additive questions or help you find the right solution to any application.