Some Practical Aspects Of Maleate/Vinyl Ether Systems In Wood Coating Application

New resins for wood coating applications, based
on Maleate/Vinyl ether (MA/VE) combinations,
were introduced during the last years1. They show
certain advantages over the existing acrylate based
systems. Because of their low toxicity, they are
not irritating nor sensitizing and because the system
consists of only oligomeric materials, and the
hereto related low vapour pressure, the concentration
of volatile organic compounds in the working
place is kept at a very low level.
Because all systems contain both compounds in
the ratio required, the resins can be mixed to tune
specific properties desired, and thus all necessary
formulating freedom is maintained2.

During the first application tests, several items
were encountered that needed more research.
Earlier we reported curing speed compared to the
existing acrylates2 and the low flexibility, resulting
in brittlo films. Next to this it was found that
MANE systems can develop acetaldehyde upon
storage.

This paper reports on the work on MA/VE resins
regarding these issues: to make a critical comparison
between the dose values produced by different
dosimeters used in practice; the determination of
the influence of parameters primarily affecting
flexibility and the identification of the reaction(s)
that occur, finally leading to the formation of
acetaldehyde and how to prevent this.