Preparation and Characterization of Low Infrared Emissive Aluminum/Waterborne Acrylic Coatings

Abstract

An aluminum/waterborne acrylic coating was developed by orthogonal experiments, and the gloss, emissivity, chromatic distortion, hardness, adhesion, impact resistance, and corrosion resistance of the coatings were examined. The results showed that the effect of drying time on the infrared emissivity of coatings was more significant than that of the Al powder concentration and nano-silica slurry. When the drying time was prolonged from 0.5 to 6.0 min, the gloss of the coating decreased slowly and the gloss remained low. The infrared emissivity first decreased and then increased. The infrared emissivity of coatings dried for 2.0 min was better. The L’ value gradually decreased and showed a small change of range. With the increasing of the drying time, the hardness of the coating gradually decreased and was the highest at 0.5–2.0 min. The drying time had no effect on the adhesion level. The impact resistance of the coating was better during the drying period of 1.0–3.0 min. The corrosion resistance of the coating was better at 2.0 min. When the drying time was 2.0 min, the waterborne coating showed the better comprehensive performance. This study provides new prospects in using low infrared emissive coatings for infrared stealth and compatibility with visible light.