Coatings Glossary

Edited By Mark Drukenbrod

Managing Editor, www.PaintandCoatings.com
Paint and Coatings
Online Coatings Glossary of Terms
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A
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A self-regulating heat and mass transfer process in which incident
Ablation thermal energy is expended by sacrificial loss of material.
Adjective used to describe measurements in terms of fundamentally
Absolute defined units.
Penetration of one substance into the mass of another. Not to be
Absorption confused with adsorption, which is a surface phenomenon only.
Any substance used in small proportion that increases the speed of a
Accelerator chemical reaction or hastens curing or crosslinking of a resin system.
Acicular Needle shaped pigment particles where length is at least 3X width.
A substance added in small quantity to promote the activity of a
majority ingredient. Often, trace cupric materials are added to zinc
Activator sulfide reflective paints to enhance brilliance.
A substance added in small quantities to enhance the physical
Additive characteristics of the mass material also sometimes called a modifier.
Material that resists adhesion; applied to surface to prevent sticking,
Abhesive heat setting, etc.
Aeration To supply or impregnate liquid with air.
Aerobic Living, active or occurring only in the presence of oxygen.
Loosely held crystals and aggregates separated by some absorbed air;
Agglomerates collusion of particles gathered into a ball.
Particles held tightly either by surface force and/or a matrix derived
Aggregates from the manufacturing process. The basic structural unit.
A device or an apparatus for stirring or shaking; to move a substance
Agitator with an irregular, rapid or violent action.
Alum A potassium aluminum sulfate used especially as an emetic.
Atom The smallest particle of an element.

B
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Batch A record of all materials and proportions used to produce a batch of
Record product.
That amount of binder needed to completely wet a pigment by
displacing air voids. Determined by particle size, shape, chemical
Binder composition, and density of the pigment; and the particle size, degree
Demand of polymerization and wetting properties of the binder.
 A chemical agent capable of killing organisms responsible for
Biocides microbiological degradation.
Ability of a coating to penetrate and soften a previous coating or
Bite substrate.
Temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid is just slightly
Boiling greater than the total ambient pressure. The liquid, as a consequence,
Point is rapidly converted from the liquid state to a vapor.
Brownian The continual motion of extremely small particles suspended in a
Motion fluid, given energy by molecular bombardment.
British Thermal Unit. The quantity of heat required to raise the
temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at
BTU atmospheric pressure.

C
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(CPVC) Critical That level of pigmentation, PVC value in the dry paint, where just
Pigment enough binder is present to fill the voids between the pigment
Volume particles.
Concentration
Mechanism by which a coating is crosslinked by the action of a
Catalytic catalyst as opposed to oxidation. Examples are two-part epoxies and
Curing polyurethanes.
A measure of viscosity of a liquid; the higher the centipoise, the higher
Centipoise the viscosity ("stickier").
Coagulant Something that produces clotting or congealing.
To arise from the combination of distinct elements; to unite into a
Coalesce whole.
Solvent with a high boiling point which, when added to a coating, aids
in film formation by temporarily plasticizing (softening) the vehicle
Coalescent system.
Propensity of a single substance to adhere to itself; the internal
attraction of molecular particles to each other; the ability to resist
partition from a bulk substance; the force holding a substance
Cohesion together.
State of subdivision of matter which comprises either single large
molecules or aggregations of smaller molecules in a dissimilar vehicle,
usually held separate (prevented from peptization) by molecular
Colloid potential or chemical additives.
Comminution Process by which aggregates are reduced to small size.
Forces pushing agglomerated material through a small gap, squeezing
Compression and disrupting. Often associated with shear.
Product obtained by cooling a vapor, such as it is converted either to a
Condensate liquid or a solid.

D
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Deaeration The removal of air from a liquid/solid mass.
Pouring or siphoning off a liquid from a precipitate or immiscible
Decantation liquid as a partial means of separating the phases.
 State or condition of a dispersion of a solid in a liquid in which each
solid particle remains independent and disassociated with adjacent
particles. A deflocculated suspension shows zero or a very low yield
Deflocculation value.
Increasing in viscosity and setting to a solid as a result of deformation
Dilatant by expansion, pressure or agitation (shear).
The minute uniform distribution of one substance throughout a
Dispersion dissimilar substance.
A dispersion stabilizing theory in which zeta potential is used to
DLVO explain that as two particles approach each other, their atomic (ionic)
Theory atmospheres overlap and a repulsion force is developed.
A thin film of even thickness on a base material effected by a smooth
edged blade. Used to evaluate undertone, mass tone, opacity and
Draw-Down gloss.

E
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A system of a liquid dispersed in an unmixable liquid, usually in
Emulsion droplets larger than colloid size.
Pertaining to a chemical reaction which occurs with absorption of
Endothermic heat.
To draw in and transport, (as solid particles or gas), by the flow of a
Entrain liquid.
Pertaining to a chemical reaction which occurs with the evolution of
Exothermic heat.
A specific group of achromatic pigments of low refractive index
incorporated into a paint with a refractive index of 1.5 to 1.6. They are
used in a paint to: reduce dependance on more expensive pigments,
achieve durability, alter appearance (eg. decrease gloss) or control
Extender rheology. If used in high concentrations, increase dry film hiding and
Pigment increase reflectance (primarily in latex architectural coatings.)

F
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Filler Synonymous with extender.
Film Forming Ability of a material to form a continuous dry film.
A device to measure the fineness of dispersion of a pigment, based on
drawing a paint down over a channel of tapered depth and observing
the minimum depth at which pigment particles are observed to
Fineness of interface with the smooth wet surface of the paint. Currently, the
Grinding ASTM/D1210 gauge is standard, which is identical in most respects to
Gauge the obsolete Hegman gauge.
(1) A paint defect which manifests itself by the crawling of wet paint
into a recognized pattern of small dimples. (2) A small globular mass
of material not fully dispersed into the bulk system. Most evident in
Fish transparent formulations, most often caused by the incomplete
Eyes dispersion of rheology modifying materials, such as fumed silica.
Flocculate A mass loosely formed by the aggregation of a number of fine
suspended particles. Aggregates destabilized particles into larger and
 more easily settleable masses.
Resistance of movement by a liquid material, divided into four
categories; Newtonian (simple) flow, plastic flow, pseudoplastic
Flow (thixotropic) flow and dilatant flow.

H
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Hiding The ability of a paint, ink, etc., to hide or obscure a surface over which
Power it has been applied uniformly.
Homogeneous Of uniform structure or composition throughout.
Hydrophilic Substance which absorbs or exhibits affinity for water; wettable.
Substance which does not absorb or exhibit affinity for water; not
Hydrophobic wettable. Also, lipophilic.
Hygroscopic Substance which is capable of absorbing water.
The failure of a property that has been changed by an external agent
to return to its original value when the cause of the change is
Hysteresis removed.

I
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Accelerated agglomerated materials, hitting a stationary object,
Impact bursting agglomerates and gradually wearing away the outer surface
Attrition of agglomerated material, thereby separating the particles.
Impingement To strike or dash with a sharp collision.
Inclusion Presence of foreign matter in finished formulations.
A general term for compounds or materials having the effect of slowing
down or stopping an undesired chemical change such as corrosion,
Inhibitor polymerization, drying, shrinking, etc.
Relating to changes of volume or pressure under conditions of
Isothermal constant temperature.

J
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Jar Mill A small ball mill, usually with a volume below one gallon.
A doughnut shaped tubular grinding chamber throughout which
crushed pigments are carried at very high velocities by streams of high
pressure air or super-heated steam. The gas causes pigment particles
Jet to impinge upon each other at great velocity, causing physical
Mill attrition.

M
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Colloid particle composed of many aggregated small molecules having
Micelle a layered structure.

O
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 The quality or state of a body that makes it impervious to light; the
relative capacity of matter to obstruct the transmission of radiant
Opacity energy.
Oxygenation Impregnation, combining, or supplying with oxygen.

P
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Particle One of the minute subdivisions of matter, as an atom or molecule.
Peptize To cause to disperse in a medium to bring into colloid solution.
A colored powdered substance that is mixed with a liquid in which it
Pigment is relatively insoluble.
A organic carbon compound or mixture of compounds essentially
consisting of structural units that repeat any number of times. Vinyl
Polymer resins are an example.

R
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Any of various solid or semisolid, amorphous, fusible, flammable,
natural organic substance that are usually transparent or
translucent; synthetic products used chiefly in plastics, adhesives and
Resin coatings.
Rheology Dealing with the deformation and flow of matter.

S
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A moving force of material, abruptly changing velocity, that tends to
Shear tear away particles from one another.
Sheave A grooved pulley, used in belt transmissions.
Slurry A fluid mixture of insoluble matter.
To agitate a liquid by means of compressed air entering through a ring
Sparge or tube.
Satisfying the surface charge on each particle so they repel one
Stabilization another deterring reaggregation.
Satisfying the surface charge on each particle so they repel one
Supernatant another deterring reaggregation.
A surface active substance; an additive which reduces surface tension
and may form micelles, thereby improving wetting (agents); helps
Surfactant disperse pigments; inhibits foam or emulsifies.

T
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The property of a coating or other material that enables it to stiffen in
a relatively short time on standing at rest buy upon isothermal
agitation to change to a very soft consistency or to a fluid of high
viscosity, the process being completely reversible. (The material
Thixotropy becomes fluid if stirred and thickens when agitation ceases.)
Titration The process of determining the concentration of a dissolved substance
in terms of the smallest amount of reagent of known concentration
 required to bring about a given effect in reaction with a known volume
of the test solution.

V
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The property of a fluid as ability to flow; amount of shearing stress
dependent on velocity of flow and resistance to flow. (High viscosity =
Viscosity thick liquid)
Viscous

W
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A substance which has excellent adhesion properties, (an extremely
Wetting thin layer of molecules), to the surface of solid bodies, thereby
Agent decreasing liquid contact angle.

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