B -Tough C – Protecting your Epoxy

TM

Coatings to Stand the Test

Croda Coatings & Polymers – Innovation you can build on

TM
 B-Tough C – Protecting your Epoxy Coatings
to Stand the Test
Toughen-up epoxy coatings
Epoxy resins are applied in heavy-duty in and outdoor coatings for their excellent properties. Epoxies bring good adhesion to many substrates, excellent
corrosion protection and chemical resistance.
Often epoxy resins are modified to meet end application performance requirements. For instance they are modified to improve flexibility although this
affects the hardness of the system. A challenge for epoxy formulators is to combine flexibility and hardness without negatively impacting other properties.
Croda introduced an innovative technology B-ToughTM, to overcome this challenge. B-Tough C is a range of epoxy functional toughening agents for the
coatings market to formulate epoxy systems with enhanced flexibility while hardness is maintained. In addition to B-Tough C2x, the B-Tough C range is
now extended with B-Tough C2r, a VOC free epoxy functional toughening agent. This allows the coatings market to formulate low to zero VOC coatings
based on solid and liquid epoxy resins for in and outdoor use.

Toughening agents B-Tough C

Epoxy toughening can be achieved by reaction-induced phase separation. The molecular weight and polarity of B-Tough C2r and C2x are designed to
induce phase separation, while being compatible enough to react. The soft toughening segments are grafted in the hard epoxy matrix and will not migrate
to the surface as is often the case with physically blended toughening agents. Figure 1 illustrates this induced phase separated morphology.

B-Tough C offers the following unique benefits:

B-Tough C l Improved flexibility while maintaining hardness
l Excellent impact strength also at lower temperatures
l Liquid – easy to formulate
Epoxy matrix l Non-migratory due to epoxy functionality

­Figure 1. Epoxy matrix with B-Tough C soft toughening segments

Improved flexibility while maintaining hardness

High-impact damage in floors, cargo holds, construction and piping can dramatically shorten the lifetime of the application. Toughening can overcome this
issue. Thus far, no technology was available to bring toughness performance in an easy to use solution for coatings in high-impact in and outdoor areas.
Figure 2 demonstrates the effect of B-Tough C2x and B-Tough C2r. Flexibility is tested by bending without crack formation. A low-viscous liquid epoxy
resin based system (EPIKOTE®/EPON® 828) is modified with B-Tough C such that it offers the flexibility properties of a solid epoxy resin based system
(EPIKOTE®/EPON® 1001) in combination with the hardness of a liquid epoxy resin based system. No compromise on performance is made with B-Tough
C2x and B-Tough C2r. The high cross linking density brought about by the liquid epoxy resin is hereby combined with enhanced flexibility.

Flexibility and hardness with different hardeners, curing 1 week @ 25 °C

Outdoor system VOC free system

Brittle 32 250 Hard
28
200
Mandrel flexibility (mm)

24
König hardness (s)

20 150
16
100
12
8
50
4
Flexible 0 0 Soft
E1001 E828 E828 with E828 E828 with
B-Tough C2x B-Tough C2r

Flexibility Hardness

Figure 2. Mandrel flexibility/hardness (coating thickness 100µm dry)

Croda Coatings & Polymers – Innovation you can build on

TM
 Excellent impact resistance
Excellent impact resistance will protect the substrate and extend its lifetime, thereby reducing maintenance cost and time. Low-viscous liquid epoxy resin
based systems demonstrate low impact resistance at room temperature due to their rigid structure. Solid systems are more flexible as a result of their
lower cross linking density.

Impact resistance with different hardeners, curing 1 week @ 25 °C

Outdoor system VOC free system
200
175
Impact resistance (kg.cm)

150
125
100
75
50
25
0
E1001 E828 E828 with E828 E828 with
B-Tough C2x B-Tough C2r

Direct impact Indirect impact Direct impact

(25°C) (25°C) (-25°C) Figure 4. Impact test with VOC free formulation with B-Tough C2r (left) and without
B-Tough C2r (middle); VOC containing epoxy formulation
Figure 3. Impact resistance
with B-Tough C2r (right)

The soft toughening B-Tough C particles that are grafted in the hard epoxy matrix improve the impact resistance properties of the coating. Figure 3
demonstrates the performance of direct and indirect impact strength. In the case of indirect impact, the non-coated backside of the panel has been
impacted. Formulations with B-Tough C2x and B-Tough C2r outperform the impact resistance of both solid and liquid epoxy resin based systems.
Additionally, B-Tough C significantly improves direct impact at low temperature conditions. As such, hardness, flexibility and impact resistance can all be
optimised simultaneously by addition of B-Tough C.

Liquid – easy to formulate

B-Tough C2r and B-Tough C2x are liquid and therefore easy to handle. Depending on the required properties, the formulator can vary the amount of
toughening agent. The inclusion of 5% B-Tough soft toughening segment optimally improves the flexibility significantly without much effect on the hardness
of the final film.

Chemical resistance
Modifying epoxy coatings with B-Tough C2r or B-Tough C2x does not affect chemical resistance, whereas resistance to high-polarity media such as water
and ethanol is actually improved. The phase-separated morphology allows the epoxy system to maintain its properties.

Product offering
Croda offers B-Tough C2r and C2x as toughening agents for epoxy coatings and allows to formulate high solid epoxy coatings without compromise on
performance. These toughening agents provide the required benefits for demanding heavy-duty in and outdoor applications such as floor coatings, cargo
holds and storage tanks. The typical characteristics are listed below:

Product name EEW (g/eq) Soft toughening segment (%) Viscosity at 25°C (mPa.s)

B-Tough C2r 320 44 14000

B-Tough C2x 1400 53 14000

* EPIKOTE/EPON is a tradename by Momentive

Europe
email: coatingsandpolymers.eu@croda.com

Asia Pacific
email: sales.singapore@croda.com

Latin America
email: coatingsandpolymers.latam@croda.com

USA
email: marketing-usa@croda.com

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