Slip and mar are important properties of the finished dried coating and can be significantly improved by the careful use of silicone additives and waxes. The wrong selection can lead to foaming problems.
Both silicones and waxes work by preferentially migrating to the surface so that quite small additions can have a marked effect. Significant increases in levels of addition show little or no further improvement and may well detract from other properties.
Suppliers include Alfa, Byk, Efka, Henkel, Dow Coming, Kromachem, Elem and Rhone-Poulenc.
(ii) Surface Tension Modifiers
These produce very similar effects to the wetting agents previously explained, but can have a much greater effect on the properties at significantly lower levels than the wetting agents. These additives can allow coating of difficult or contaminated substrates quite readily. They can significantly improve flow out, pigment wetting and substrate wetting.
Suppliers include 3M, Akzo, Daniel, Henkel, and Rohm & Haas.