Coating characteristics of electron beam cured bisphenol A diglycidyl ether diacrylate resin containing 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate on wood surface

Electron beam curing of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether diacrylate resin (BDGDA) mixed with varying amount of 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate monomer (HDDA) was investigated using low energy DC electron beam accelerator. Cured coating films were analyzed by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel fraction, swelling ratio and thermogravimetric (TG) techniques. The wood surfaces cured with different coating compositions were tested for their end use performance properties like gloss, pencil hardness, scratch resistance, mar resistance, abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, steam resistance and cigarette burn resistance. FTIR studies indicated that the density of acrylate functionality and degree of curing increased with the HDDA content in the feed mixture. This observation was supported by gel fraction and swelling studies as well. The thermal stability, pencil hardness, mar resistance, abrasion resistance and solvent resistance properties of coating were observed to improve with the incorporation of HDDA. However, there was significant decrease in gloss and scratch resistance at higher HDDA content. The coating showed excellent steam and stain resistance but poor resistance to cigarette burns.