Differences between water-based acrylic resin and water-based acrylic emulsion

Water-based acrylic resin:

Performance characteristics:

• Extremely high transparency (especially solution type).
• High gloss.
• Good leveling.
• Good pigment wettability.
• Water resistance may be slightly worse than emulsion (because it contains hydrophilic groups).
• Fast hardness development.
• Solid content is usually low (because the viscosity will be very high when the molecular weight is high).

Application:

Commonly used in fields with high requirements for transparency, gloss and leveling, such as:

• Water-based metal baking paint (such as automobile and coil coatings).
• High-performance wood paint topcoat.
• Ink binder.
• Plastic coating.
• Paper coating.
• Used as a crosslinker or modifier for emulsions.

Water-based acrylic emulsions:

Performance characteristics:

• Solid content can be made higher (40-70%).
• Viscosity is usually low (not much related to molecular weight, can be adjusted by thickener).
• Film forming temperature range (MFFT) is an important indicator, which can be adjusted by formula design or adding film-forming aids.
• Transparency is usually not as good as resin (because particles scatter light).
• Gloss range is wide (can be from matte to high gloss).
• Water resistance is usually good (better when emulsifier content is low).
• Freeze-thaw stability is an issue that needs attention (antifreeze needs to be added).

Application:

It is widely used and is the main force of water-based coatings:

• Architectural coatings (interior Wall Latex Paint, exterior wall latex paint).
• Waterproof Coatings.
• Floor coatings.
• Textile coatings, adhesives.
• Wood coatings (primers, matte topcoats).
• Paper coatings.
• Leather finishing agents.