Influence of binder viscosity on the control of infrared emissivity in low emissivity coating

Low emissivity is the complex system and polymer binder is one of the most important factors that affect optical and mechanical properties of the coating. Low infrared emissivity coatings were prepared by using flake aluminum particles and three types of polymer resins as fillers and binders, respectively. The influence of polymer binder viscosity on pigment particles distribution, surface morphology and infrared emissivity of the coating was systematically investigated. The results indicate that infrared emissivity of the coating can be strongly affected by the resin viscosity at the same preparation condition, which induces different aluminum particles distribution and surface morphology of the coating. Low resin viscosity is helpful for aggregating pigments and reducing the top polymer layer thickness near the surface, thus the infrared emissivity is reduced. If the resin viscosity value is decreased by two orders of magnitude, the infrared emissivity values would be reduced as much as 0.2. Additionally, a theoretical model is proposed to account for this mechanism, which indicates that sedimentation, evaporation and diffusion play important roles in forming different aluminum particles distribution during the drying process of the coating.