Latex coating compositions include a variety of additives to improve performance. For example, anti-freeze additives such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol are used to prevent the composition from freezing and to improve composition performance at low temperatures. Coalescing solvents are also used to lower minimum film-forming temperature. Nevertheless, the use of these additives have become less desirable due to regulatory pressures toward reducing or even eliminating the addition of organic compounds having atmospheric boiling points up to 260° C. (i.e., VOCs) in formulations. In one approach for addressing this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 7,705,082 discloses the addition of a low volatile oligomeric ethylene glycol derivative to produce a coating formulation with acceptable freeze-thaw properties. However, the disclosed method requires substantial amounts of the additive, adding cost and complexity, as well as potentially increased water sensitivity and foaming, to the formulation. It would therefore be desirable to find other approaches to achieving acceptable freeze-thaw properties without the use of VOCs.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds