Dr. Dmitri Kopeliovich

Solvent-borne paints (oil paints) are the paints formulated on the base of Hydrocarbon solvents serving as a vehicle carrying the solid components (binders, pigments and additives).

A solvent-borne paint may contain up to 80% of solid constituents dispersed in the solvent.

The functions of solvents in the paints:

• Carrying the solid components in dispersed state.
• Providing the level of viscosity enabling application of the paint by the particular technique (brushing, spraying, roller, dipping).
• Promoting drying the paint due to evaporation.

A wide range of hydrocarbon solvents are used for paint formulation:

• Aliphatic compounds (eg. White spirit)
• Aromatic compounds(eg. Toluene, Xylene)
• Ketones (eg. methyl ethyl keton)
• Esters
• Alcohols
• Glycol ethers.
• Glycol ether esters.

Most of solvents are produced in petrochemical industry as volatile fractions in refinery of crude oil.
Some solvents are prepared from plants, for example turpentine produced by the distillation of resin obtained from pine trees.

Solvent-borne paints dry rapidly and may contain a wide range of binders.

The main disadvantage of the solvent-borne paints is their toxicity. Hydrocarbon solvents refer to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which evaporate fast and enter human body through breathing the fumes. Another disadvantage of the solvent-borne paints is flammability (low flash point and autoignition point).

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• Composition of paints
• Classification of paints
• Water-borne paints
• High-solids paints
• Powder coatings
• Application of paints
• Radiation curable coatings
• Enhancement of adhesion
• Colloids
• Hydrocarbon solvents
• Electrophoretic deposition

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