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Synthesis of Hydrogels with Antifouling Properties As Membranes for Water Purification
Published on: April 7, 2017
Hydroxyethyl sulfone based reactive coalescing agents for low-VOC waterborne coatings
Jagjit Kaur1, Ranganathan Krishnan1, Balamurugan Ramalingam1
1Functional Molecules & Polymers, Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR) 1, Pesek Road, Jurong Island 627 833 Singapore balamurugan_ramalingam@ices.a-star.edu.sg satyasankar_jana@ices.a-star.edu.sg.
Abstract:
The unique characteristics of water-based hydroxyethyl sulfone (HES)-vinyl sulfone (VS) dynamic equilibrium are exploited in the design of new reactive coalescing agents (RCAs) for the first time to address VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emission issues from waterborne coatings. New RCAs were synthesized as HES analogues of widely used commercial coalescing agents (CAs) and characterized. These HES based RCAs are found to be effective towards film formation as evidenced by minimum film formation temperature (MFFT) studies. Equilibration of HES to VS of these RCAs was established and the VS intermediate was isolated and characterized. Detailed studies reveal that HES analogues of RCAs react with amine/hydroxyl containing monomers and latex only during the film formation through VS formation, while HES remains unreactive during storage in water or aqueous basic solution. The current study demonstrates the potential use of HES compounds as RCAs towards environmentally benign waterborne coatings. The reactivity of HES analogues towards latex polymer is found to be promoted during the film formation without use of any other external triggers like heat or light.
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