Coatings update: Scientific studies

Behind every successful technology is a great body of scientific knowledge. The paint industry managed to get along pretty well from the time of the Egyptians until World War I, a span of approximately 5,000 years, without much scientific insight. Indeed, the empirical approach to paint formulation could hardly be criticised. When one visits museums of Egyptology today, one sees coatings formulated three to five thousand years ago which are bright coloured and which still have good adhesion and film integrity. But coating mummy cases in a very dry climate is considerably less demanding than coating missiles which find themselves in a hostile environment. Although paint for mummy cases, houses, and barns and even the first assembly‐line‐produced automobiles could be made without much scientific understanding, it is fair to say that coatings for the exacting demands of modern technology could never have evolved without an understanding of the scientific principles on which the modern coatings industry is based. The scientific basis for the modern coatings industry is found in an understanding of polymer chemistry, an understanding of the chemistry of solvents, a knowledge of the chemistry of pigments, and a large body of physical chemistry relating to solubility, rheology, adhesion, cohesion, and many other important phenomena.