Achieving a deep matte surface can be challenging when formulating a coating, especially when trying to combine it with other properties such as low paint viscosity and high resistance to mechanical abrasion for the dried film. Quartzene® is an ideal choice for a deep matting agent due to its structure.
Paint formulators must consider several aspects when developing a paint, where the paint is to be applied, what can happen with it during its lifetime, and how it should look during its lifetime. Is it a clear coat or a pigmented version and how glossy should the paint be? Different types put different requirements on the paint. Quartzene® is here introduced as a high-end matting additive to help formulators achieve a deep matte finish.
Versatility of Quartzene® for a deep matte effect
Due to the porous aerogel structure and lightweight nature of the Quartzene® powder, it serves as an efficient matting agent that can help formulators to achieve a deep matte finish in different types of coatings. Quartzene® is available with different particle size distributions and surface chemistries which creates versatility for the use of it in different systems.
The effect of Quartzene® on the gloss values in different systems
Svenska Aerogel has here post-added Quartzene® in two existing systems where the target for the first system, an acrylic varnish for wood coating, was to achieve gloss values below 10 GU in all the different reflection angles, 20°, 60° and 85°.
The effect of amount added Quartzene® was evaluated against the GU in the system and showed that an addition of only 2.5 % reduced the gloss of the varnish from a high gloss surface to a deep matte surface.
The second system was an acrylic PU intended to be used on steel surfaces and for this system the target was to achieve a <5 GU in all the angles evaluated. Here an additional level of 5.0 % was required to matte the surface from a semi-gloss to a deep matte surface in the system.
The use of Quartzene aerogel offers formulators a versatile tool in achieving a deep matte surface, providing an innovative solution to meet the demanding requirements of paint development.
Contact Svenska Aerogel at sales@aerogel.se for more information or to start a project.