Abstract
The paint industry is continuously striving to reduce its environmental impact, especially when it comes to the major virgin white pigment, titanium dioxide (TiO2). In this work, recycled TiO2 pigment was used in a paint formulation as a replacement for pigment made from virgin raw materials. The paint was evaluated based on pH, Stormer and ICI viscosities, gloss, hiding power, and color characteristics. The paint films were also characterized by LVSEM–EDS, AFM, and profilometry. The most significant difference between a paint based on recycled pigments and a paint based on virgin pigments was the agglomeration of pigment particles which gave a reduction in gloss and a rougher surface of the dried paint film based on recycled pigment, and it could be concluded that the recycled pigment could not be used without accepting a small decrease in paint quality. This points toward two main directions: (1) the use of recycled pigment in applications with less demand on surface finish and gloss, such as ceiling paints, and (2) that further work on formulation should be carried out with the recycled pigment as for any other new pigment introduced in a paint formulation to optimize its performance.
Highlights
Due to its ability to scatter light, titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the most widely used white pigment and is used in a variety of products such as coatings, paper, and plastics.[1]
Both paint samples yielded the same measured pH value of 9.1 ± 0.1. This falls within the range of what was expected for an emulsion paint
There was a slight variation in the ICI viscosity, but the differences were too small to have a relevant impact on the paint
Summary
Due to its ability to scatter light, titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the most widely used white pigment and is used in a variety of products such as coatings, paper, and plastics.[1]. The paint industry is continuously looking for replacements for TiO2 in order to reduce both the cost and the environmental impact of their products.[4] One possible source for a replacement of virgin TiO2 could be to recover pigment from waste paint and to make it possible to reintroduce the recycled pigment into new paint formulations in a circular manner. The paints produced with recycled pigments showed a decrease in important qualities, such as whiteness and gloss, compared to paints made with virgin material. This decrease in quality could be acceptable if it was not for the large aggregates ($ 1 mm in diameter) of TiO2 particles in the dry paint film
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