Several polymeric resins with differing polar and hydrogen bonding characteristics have been developed and blended together with commercially available fillers and pigments to generate a high performance low reflectance coating. Understanding the origins of low reflectance from the polymer blend has been approached through microscopy, thermal analysis and spectroscopic analysis of both pigmented and control clear coatings. Polymeric phase separation was thermally observed in the pigmented coating by the presence of two distinct glass transition temperatures. Microscopy revealed random surface features for the pigmented coating therefore, the pigments and fillers were removed to observe the polymer-polymer interactions within the blend under curing conditions. Upon removal of the pigment and filler materials the polymeric phase separation was readily observed with microscopy techniques. Identification of the polymeric domains was then performed using Raman spectroscopy mapping of cross-section samples embedded within a polyester resin. Cross-section samples of the blended polymeric resin film were utilized to isolate encapsulated polymer domains from the encapsulating continuous polymer network to minimize spectral averaging from both domains. Raman analysis was performed for the polymeric phases within the blend and compared to films consisting of the individual resins. The Raman analysis shows that the encapsulated domains were generated from the polymer with the highest polar and hydrogen bonding characteristics and the continuous polymer matrix was formed from the polymer with the lowest polar and hydrogen bonding characteristics.

Analysis of polymeric phase separation within a thermoset polymer blend for applications in high performance low gloss coatings

249th National Meeting (2015)

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