Separation and identification of additives in paint by TLC-IR/ UATR and selective extraction

Abstract

Various additives are incorporated into the paint formulations to prevent coating defects and improving the application performance, so it is a complex system. The characterization of the components present in this system can be performed by physical/ chemical separation and instrumental analytical techniques. Multi component analysis is used in the study of non-compliance, forensic investigation and research and development of new products. The related research generally uses conventional methodologies, finding some limitations, which motivates the use of alternative techniques, including couplings, for additive analysis in paints. In this context, has been reported the coupling (off-line) of thin layer chromatography (TLC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) (TLC-IR) and selective extraction in the analysis of additives in ink containing polyurethane (PU) and nitrocellulose (NC) resin. One formulation was evaluated, by using three eluting systems, and one type of developer, Gibbs. The FT-IR spectra were obtained by Universal Attenuated Total Reflection (UATR). The main results showed that the plasticizer Acetyl Tributyl Citrate (ATBC), as the majority additive was easily identified by TLC-IR. The methodology allowed even detect and differentiate phthalates like dioctyl phthalate (DOP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP), even in small amount of sample, and identify oleamide (slip promoter) by means of selective extraction and UATR.

Keywords:
paints; additives; TLC-IR; UATR; selective extraction