Mini-emulsion polymerisation for bio-based wood coatings

The finiteness of fossil feedstock forces us today to tap bio-renewable sources for raw materials for the future chemical industry. The environmental consciousness leads to the usage of bio-renewable ingredients and substitution of solvent-borne coatings by water-borne products. Mini-emulsion polymerisation technique offers different advantages for the production of such water-borne binders. Acrylic dispersions with high amount of novel biobased monomers and synthesized by mini-emulsion are being investigated in cooperation with industrial partners at Fraunhofer WKI as binders for waterborne clear coats for wood and wood-based materials. From low-molecular saccharides as starting material radically polymerisable sugar methacrylates were copolymerised with commercial and renewable acrylic monomers by means of different emulsion polymerisation techniques and their properties were determined. The sugar based acrylic dispersions exhibit equal and also novel characteristics compared to the commercial petrochemical products and make them suitable for example for furniture lacquers.