Comparative Analysis of Marine Paint Formulation Using Standard Raw Material as Compared to Locally Source Raw Material

Abstract

This study presents a comparative analysis of marine paint formulated using standard raw (Epicoat1004) versus locally sourced Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) as binder. The liquid latex was used with other standard chemical as binder with equal ratio as the standard binder(epoxy). Solid latex was cut into pieces then dissolve into a 500ml   toluene for 90min before using as rubber latex binder for the formulation. The mixing was done sequentially, starting with addition of solvent, followed by adding the binders, pigments and finally the additives for the two different samples (commercial and organic). The properties tested were viscosity, drying time, gloss, pH value, water resistance, adhesion, storage stability, and product performance of the formulated paint. The result shows that increase in temperature of the formulation affects the viscosity of the formulation as well as the drying time leading to improper curing, standard formulation shows little or no sign of discoloration in both salt and fresh water as compared to organic formulation that shows sign of blistering and discoloration in both salt and fresh water. The stability of the two formulation shows that standard formulation (Epi 1004) had perform better than the NRL paint. Also, from the result, it was observed that Epicoat 1004 binder paint shows the following characteristics; longer drying time, provide medium gloss, superior storage resistance and adhesion to metals, while unmodified NRL takes shorter drying time, separation of solvent during storage, low gloss, and weaker adhesion to metals due to unmodified latex. Therefore, the formulated organic paint can be said to be better since the material of production is ecofriendly and cost effective since it can be sourced locally.