Formulation effects on the release of silica dioxide nanoparticles from paint debris to water

• The influence of paint formulation on release of Si from paint debris was studied.
• The release of Si was 1.8% with respect to initially amount of Si in paint.
• Agglomerates SiO2 nanoparticles were found in some leachates.
• The pigment volume concentration (PVC) influences release of SiO2 nanoparticles.
• By adjusting the properties of the binder it is possible to reduce Si release.

Waterborne paints with integrated nanoparticles have been recently introduced into the market as nanoparticles offer improved or novel functionalities to paints. However, the release of nanoparticles during the life cycle of nano-enhanced paint has only been studied to a very limited extent. The paint composition could determine in what quantities and forms the nanoparticles are released. In this work, paint formulations containing the same amount of silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles but differing in the pigment volume concentration (PVC) and in amount and type of binder and pigment, were studied through leaching test to investigate the influence of these parameters on release of Si from paint. The results indicate greater release of Si, about 1.7 wt.% of the SiO2 nanoparticles in the paint, for paint formulated with higher PVC value (63%), suggesting that the PVC is a crucial factor for release of SiO2 nanoparticles from paints. This hypothesis was also based on the fact that agglomerates of SiO2 nanoparticles were only found in leachates from paint with higher PVC. A paint sample with the higher amount of binder and less calcite filler exhibited a lower release of Si among the paints with a low PVC value (35%), and no SiO2 particles were detected in leachates collected from this paint. This could be due to the fact that a high portion of binder forms a suitable matrix to hold the SiO2 ENPs in paint. The paint sample in which the amount of calcite was partially substituted with TiO2 pigment did not show an important reduction on Si release. Our work suggests that paint debris containing SiO2 nanoparticles may release a limited amount of Si into the environment, and that by adjusting the properties of the binder in combination with common pigments it is possible to reduce the release of SiO2 nanoparticles.