The difference between organic silicon leveling agent and acrylic leveling agent

What is a leveling agent? I'm sure everyone knows, but what is the difference between silicone leveling agent and acrylic leveling agent? The editor of Jianyi Chemical will briefly discuss the difference between the two:

1、 Organic silicon leveling agent

This type of leveling agent can significantly reduce the surface tension of the coating, improve the wetting ability of the substrate and the flowability of the paint film, eliminate vortices, and prevent discoloration. The ability to reduce surface tension depends on its chemical structure, and another significant characteristic is the ability to improve the smoothness, anti scratch, and anti adhesion properties of the coating. The disadvantage of such leveling agents is that they tend to stabilize foam, affect the adhesion between layers, and some also pollute the construction environment, such as the oven.

2、 Acrylic leveling agent

Acrylic leveling agents include pure acrylic leveling agents and modified acrylic leveling agents. Pure acrylic leveling agents include traditional non reactive acrylic leveling agents and novel reactive acrylic leveling agents containing functional groups. This is a type of acrylic homopolymer or copolymer with varying molecular weights. These leveling agents only slightly reduce the surface tension of the coating, balancing the differences in surface tension of the paint film and achieving a truly smooth, mirror like paint film surface. If the molecular weight is high enough, these leveling agents also have degassing and defoaming effects. The disadvantage of traditional non reactive acrylic leveling agents is that high molecular weight products may produce haze in the paint film, while low molecular weight products may reduce the surface hardness of the paint film. Acrylic leveling agents containing reactive functional groups can effectively solve this contradiction, providing good leveling performance without producing haze or reducing surface hardness, and sometimes even increasing surface hardness.