For Paint Manufacturers worldwide, there has come a radical new development in
legion of Thickening Agents & Colloidal stabilizer for Aqueous Latex Paints. So far most of companies producing aqueous Paint emulsions, most preferred thickening agent was Hydroxy ethyl cellulose (HEC). The HEC based thixotropic additives is produced by some of renowned multi-national companies such as Hercules, Akzo Nobel & Dow. Here we refer to a Biopolymer based on Polysacchride derived from controlled derivatisation process from plant origin. The product developed by Asian Trade Link Chemicals Division in India has already been a successful venture for replacement of HECs for many paint companies. The Product is known as Solvitex thickening agent & colloidal stabilizer.
The solvitex range of products is offered in wide range of viscosities of aqueous solutions. It comes in Powder form of Offwhite color and thickening properties are similar to HEC.
But Advantages of Solviex against HECs are many. The prime factor is stability & economic pricing. Its been observed that for a Medium viscosity range of products such as Natrosol 250 HBR or Bermcoll 381 intial drop after settling is by 20% and then finished paint adheres to be stable for six months.and viscosity further drops. Solvitex has an initial drop of settling to 10% and product is stable in physical observation for more than 1year exhibiting same viscosity.
As known by many Paint technicians, its inevitable that stability of thickening agent after incorporating in Paint system, is delicate towards wide temperature changes. Especially applicable for Export shipments when Paint under goes through various temperature conditions during its transit. A sudden drop & rise in outside temperature can effect stability. Solvitex has potentially proven to be stable under those conditions.
