CARY, NC - At the 2015 Coatings Tech Conference in Louisville, KY, the American Coatings Association (ACA) presented the Roon Award to a team of researchers led by Dr. Wenjun Wu, Principle Scientist for Arkema Coating Resins. The Roon Award is among the coating industry’s highest technical achievements and recognizes the best technical paper at the conference.

The research paper, entitled “Alkali-Soluble Resins (ASR) and Acrylic Blends: Influence of ASR Distribution on Latex Film and Paint Properties,” was co-authored by a team of researchers, including Dr. Wu, Dr. Christopher Miller, Professor Steven Severtson, Dr. Jihui Guo, Dr. Gang Pu and Dr. Jilin Zhang.

“On behalf of Arkema Coating Resins, we would like to thank everyone involved with this research project and ACA as well as the Roon Award Committee for the recognition,” said Dr. Wu. “Waterborne coatings are complex systems containing many formulation ingredients. Component interaction and distribution in wet state and dry film affect a large number of in-can and dry-film properties. This paper and the research it represents will drive true innovation in the industry by furthering our understanding of properties of latex and paint films in relation to component interactions and distributions.”

The research employed a variety of analytical techniques to characterize the film formation behavior of a soft acrylic latex in the absence and presence of a high glass transition temperature (Tg) ASR. The paper provides new insights into the component distribution in the latex and paint films containing ASR as well as their impact on the end-use paint properties. The methods utilized in the paper can be applied to characterize component interactions and distributions in different polymer blends as well as other additives in paint formulations.

“I am very proud to be a member of the team behind this research,” said Professor Severtson of the University of Minnesota. “Working with Arkema and Dr. Wenjun Wu was a rewarding experience for both me and the research team here at the university.”