Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) Uses in Coaings
What fields should methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) be used? How to use MEK in these fields? You’ll get the answer in the next article.
Methyl ethyl ketone also called butanone. An abbreviation is MEK. It is colorless transparent liquid, with volatile aroma and flavor. MEK is flammable. The boiling point is 79.6413, the melting point is 86.69 ° C. Methyl ethyl ketone is a kind of low boiling point solvents with good performance, widely used in oil refining, dyestuff, coating, adhesive, medicine, lubricating oil dewaxing, and electronic components cleaning industries. Methyl ethyl ketone uses also includes the plant extraction and azeotropic distillation.
Methyl ethyl ketone is an important refine raw chemical material. Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) uses in preparing catalysts, antioxidants, polyurethane, vinyl resin, acrylic resin, alkyd resin, phenolic resin, and magnetic tape. MEK has very wide application.
As low boiling point solvents, methyl ethyl ketone is famous for excellent solubility and drying properties. It can form an azeotrope with many solvents. MEK has a strong solvent ability for variety cellulose derivatives, synthetic rubber, oil, and senior fatty acid. Due to the excellent performance of methyl ethyl ketone, it has attracted more and more attention. Many factories have developed and introduced the MEK production technology, and activities to explore the new application fields.
It is reported that the largest methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) uses in the United States is to make cars, furniture, coating tissues of the construction industry, fabric finishes, diluents, and solvents. The largest use in Japan is the area of paint and ink.
The solvent is the most important and primary use of MEK in many fields.
It is also widely used in coatings, a brighter mixture, oil dewaxing, tape, ink, extraction, and many other fields. That shows its excellent solubility, stable performance, and good drying speed.
As a coating solvent, methyl ethyl ketone accounts for 50%~60% of the total solvent consumption. It is suitable for vinyl coating, acrylic paint, cellulose nitrate and so on.
Compared to the conventional solvents (toluene, xylene butanol, etc.), methyl ethyl ketone has better dissolution performance and volatile rate. That can improve the coating flow property and mechanical strength, also less pollution to the environment. Therefore MEK is an ideal solvent in the coatings industry.
According to the report, the amount of solvent used in high-grade coatings abroad is 30%. And the solvent formula is about 15%~ 70%.
American Bell telephone laboratories, for example, developed bright paint for the surface of plastic objects in 1980. The ABS polymer (butadiene, styrene and acrylonitrile trimer) is varnish for solid components. The methyl ethyl ketone and EGMEA are by both as the solvent (EGMEA: vinyl acetate-ethylene glycol monoethyl ether).
———————————————————
Addition content about EGMEA.
EGMEA is a colorless liquid. It smells of aromatic esters. And that performance is stable. EGMEA is miscible with water, oils and common organic solvents. It can dissolve rubber and resins.
EGMEA cas number is 110-49-6. The chemical formula is C4H8O2S. The molecular weight is 120.17. The density is 1.072g/cm3. Its melting point is -65 deg C. Boiling point is 162.7 deg.C at 760mmHg.The flashpoint is 57.6 deg.C. X is toxic.
Application of EGMEA: Biochemical Research. Solvents for cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, various gums, synthetic resins, waxes, oils, textile coatings, photographic film, false lacquers, aircraft lacquers, etc.
———————————————————–
The proportion of two kinds of solvents for 25/25 ~ 50/50. Scatter solid components in the fixed ratio of binary compound solvent, can obtain a high smoothness of coating paint. This coating cannot be coated, not settled or caked, easy to spray, and can be well glued to the surface of ABS.
The ideal ratio of MEK and EGMEA dual mixture solvents is 30/70~ 40/60.
Generally, the coating use temperature is 60 ~ 71 °C. Low temperature will prolong the heating time, while the high temperature can cause coating layer polymer decomposition or property reduction. Under the best temperature, the residual solvent evaporated thoroughly is about 20~30 minutes. This kind of light paint on the surface of the plastic is easy to spray, strong covering power.
After the ABS sample is sprayed circularly, it can still maintain its impact resistance and promote its plasticity.
In conclusion, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) uses has a wide range of an important refine chemicals.
First of all, the solvent field is the primary application of MEK.
As coating additives manufacturer, we are making full use of methyl ethyl ketone, to synthesis all kinds of coating additives with good performance. And we’re developing a further application of MEK in addition to the solvent in other fields.