Real-time investigation of film formation in colloidal waterborne coatings with different drying mechanism

The aim of this proposal is to study in-situ the structural evolution that water-based suspensions of colloidal polymeric particle suspensions (latex) undergo during film formation by Grazing Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (GISAXS). The systems under study are soft colloids that closely resemble resins used in real everyday applications and show different drying mechanisms. The latexes entail different chemistry and structural properties (defined by the particle composition, the glass transition temperature of the polymer, and the crystallinity of the phases) and hence exhibit different film formation mechanisms.