Protective Coatings and Paints -05 Solvent

Why utilized Solvent?
Organic solvents are used to dissolve the resin material and reduce the viscosity of the product to permit easier application.
They also control leveling, drying, durability, and adhesion. Because the different organic polymers in different formulations vary greatly in their solubilities, some resins require much stronger solvents and/or greater amounts than others to dissolve them.
In most water-based coatings, the water is a dispersing rather than a dissolving agent.
A blend of solvents is generally used in paint to achieve all the properties desired from them. The blend must completely dissolve the total binder system and be balanced to ensure compatibility and stability during all stages of curing. Improper blends may result in cloudy films, pigment float to the wet film surface, or reduced film durability.
Paint solvents evaporate into the air and contribute to the production of photochemical smog. Thus, there is a great pressure to reformulate coatings to reduce the solvent content of paints.[yirf]