Product Details

Course Description

Matting agents play a crucial role in the formulation of a wide array of paints and coatings including architectural, industrial, automotive, and furniture coatings.  Their primary function is to impart aesthetic appeal by modifying a coating’s visual properties and creating various degrees of surface mattness.

They consist of microscopic particles with specific surface characteristics that scatter and diffuse incident light, resulting in a matte or satin appearance.  The choice of matting agent depends on the desired level of gloss reduction, compatibility with the coating system, and the targeted application.

The incorporation of matting agents into coatings requires careful consideration of various formulation parameters such as particle size, particle size distribution, porosity, pH, loading levels, treatment, dispersibility, and compatibility.  Optimizing these parameters is crucial to achieving the desired matting effect while maintaining the overall coating performance.

This course provides an overview of the use of matting agents, their mechanisms of action, and their impact on the final performance and appearance of coated surfaces.  It highlights the different types of matting agents commonly employed in the industry including both natural and synthetic silicas.

While targeted to formulating chemists, this course is also well suited for marketing, sales, production, and customer service personnel.  Managers and supervisors would also benefit by having a better understanding, and appreciation, of the important role matting agents play in the production of quality paints and coatings.

Course Outline

• Optical Properties
• Film Formation
• Matting Mechanism
• Matting Agent Types
• Manufacturing Process
• Matting Agent Incorporation
• Test Methods and Properties

Course Instructor

Sam Morell is a Chemical Engineering graduate of New York University.  With over 50 years in the Chemicals industry, his experience includes both technical and marketing positions at Rohm and Haas, BASF, and Air Products and Chemicals.  Mr. Morell has authored numerous technical articles on additives, pigments, and resins in various publications including PCI Magazine, Modern Paint and Coatings, The American Ink Maker, and Adhesives Age.  He has been invited by various domestic and international industry symposiums, as well as Fortune 500 companies, to present both technical papers and educational courses.  These include The American Coatings Show, The Waterborne Symposium, The European Coatings Show, and Coatings Trends and Technologies.