Applying the Protective Role of Condensed Tannins to Acrylic-based Surface Coatings Exposed to Accelerated Weathering

Condensed tannins, extractable from tree bark have been assessed as functional additives to provide a protective role to acrylic-based coating resins. In addition to retaining high antioxidant capacity, the UV absorption properties of native and chemically modified tannins were found to be variously impacted by pH and degree of esterification or etherification. When added to acrylic-based coatings, these tannins were found to contribute colour to a white-base, but only small perceptive differences were found for clear coated wood using typical additive loadings of 0.1–0.4%. Integration of tannins in native or modified form to do not inhibit the cure of acrylic coatings or found to leach from cured coating films. Accelerated weathering was used to evaluate the photo-stability of tannin-modified acrylic and styrene-acrylic coatings. Native and modified tannins with maleate or methylcarboxylate groups retaining high antioxidant activity were associated with significantly greater coating longevity and performance than use of a synthetic photostabiliser. Moreover, esterified condensed tannins with a high degree of substitution also outperformed synthetic additives indicating the inherent UV absorption potential of these materials also contributed this efficacy within the acrylic and styrene-acrylic coating systems.