Scientists at Michelman are using a rotational rheometer from Malvern Instruments to customise its water-based surface modifiers, polymers and coatings.
Through detailed characterisation of the rheological response of a formulation, the team can develop cost-effective coating solutions that behave in a well-defined way during storage, application and drying.
Ron Foster, senior research chemist, said: 'It allows us to measure the viscosity of coatings at different shear rates and then confidently predict stability, ease of application and levelling behaviour.
'The melting oven is a valuable accessory that allows us to assess polymer feeds in wax emulsions.
'Malvern's technical support is excellent, particularly with respect to interpreting results, and has helped us to extract maximum value from the instrument,' he added.
During storage, paints and coatings are subjected only to gravitational forces but during application, high shear conditions may be imposed.
As the coating dries to form a level surface with the desired attributes, very low shear conditions apply once more.
Michelman takes advantage of the oscillatory testing capabilities and wide torque of the rheometer to quantify formulation performance under all relevant conditions and ensure it will fully meet customer specifications.
These capabilities simplify the replacement of existing commercial products with, for example, more environmentally benign, water-based alternatives.
The Malvern rheology offering is more than a suite of high performance, precision instruments, with applications in research, development and QC.
Malvern understands that for many people, the challenge of knowing what measurements to make and how to interpret the results is a barrier to exploiting the full potential of rheological tools.
To address this issue Malvern has developed Kinexus, a radically new rheometer platform with embedded intelligence, which makes it easier for users to access appropriate rheological information.
