The Use of Oils and Fatty Acids in Paints and Surface Coatings

This chapter describes the use of oils and fatty acids in what are generally referred to as surface coatings, and in this context, because they use essentially the same range of materials. It provides an overview of the size and breakdown of the paint industry worldwide and its use of oils and fatty acids, as far as can be deduced. The chapter presents the terms specific to the industry, it is essential to define some of these to avoid confusion. The age-old balance required with paint formulation and hence directed to the resin preparation is that of adequately achieving final properties, particularly mechanical strength, getting surface coverage and build, and being able to apply the paint evenly, all at acceptable cost. On cost grounds, oils compete well with the petrochemically derived ingredients normally used to form polymers. Aqueous addition polymer dispersions made by emulsion or dispersion polymerization dominate in volume terms and find application in all markets.