Lacquer sap with reactive maleic hemiester surfactant-modified phase interface and its properties

Abstract

Abstract A reactive maleic hemiester surfactant (RMHS) was synthesized by the esterification of maleic anhydride with the fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether. The RMHS was added into lacquer sap to modify the phase interface structure of the W/O type emulsion, and its effects on the properties of lacquer films were investigated. The addition of the RMHS greatly improved the drying properties of the lacquer films. The drying properties were strongly dependent on the content of the RMHS. With the increase of the amount of RMHS from 0 to 5 wt%, the drying time showed a significant decrease due to the improvement of the moisture-retention ability of the lacquer films. However, with further increase of the amount of RMHS, the moisture-retention ability of the lacquer films declined gradually, and the drying time was prolonged. The results from SEM showed that a small amount of RMHS caused the closed cavities related to water-drops to slow down the loss of water in the lacquer films and that larger amounts of RMHS led to open cavities, which decreased the moisture-retention ability of the lacquer films due to the decrease of the stability of the lacquer sap. Polymerization between the lacquer components and the RMHS also occurred and was confirmed by FT-IR and NMR spectra. The gloss, pencil hardness and hydrophobicity of the lacquer films were also closely related to the content of RMHS. When its amount was 5 wt%, these properties were best. In addition, RMHS-modified lacquer films showed higher thermal stability as well.