Editorial
It is with pleasure that I present you the first issue of Pigment & Resin Technology for the year 2004. Readers may be pleased to know that the editorial team has continued its effort to make Pigment & Resin Technology a high quality, international journal.
This issue contains papers covering several interesting areas of colour and coating science and technology. Following are brief descriptions of each of the papers, together with the editor's comments.
Most coatings assemblies undergo a curing (or hardening) process, involving crosslinking of the monomers and oligomers. The properties of the cured coating films are inevitably dependent on the mechanism and the extent of curing, which are influenced by the chemical nature of the coating system and the curing conditions. As such, it is of great importance to understand the mechanism of the curing process so that the curing conditions could be optimised. Kalenda developed a method for the determination of the rate of hardening of unsaturated polyesters through the measurement of the electric resistance of the coating assembly. Such a method was based on the observation that the electric resistance of a typical polymerisation system is an indication of the degree of polymerisation. Thus, it was possible to obtain the kinetic parameters of the curing reaction through the measurement of electric resistivity of the coating system. The validity of such a method was verified through the study of the curing characteristics of unsaturated polyester systems catalysed by various driers. Readers may find the interpretation of the various mechanisms of curing given by Kalenda interesting.
The chemical nature of the polymeric binders in a coating formulation contributes significantly to the properties of the resulting coating/substrate assembly. Depending on the degree of interaction between the polymeric binder and substrate, the adhesion and anticorrosion properties of the coating film could vary significantly. Thabaiti and Nowaiser reported their investigation on the oligomer – transition metals complexes. Thus, a semicarbaside-phthalic acid oligomer was synthesised and its complexes with various metals were characterised. It was found that the oligomer effectively chelated with the metals and formed thermally stable complexes, making the oligomer ideal for anticorrosion coating systems.
Slow release and controlled release concepts have been around for a significant number of years. In the pharmaceutical, biochemical and biomedical fields, the controlled release concept has been widely incorporated to administer fairly precise quantities of relevant reagents into the intended environment. In the surface coating industry, the rate of release need not be precisely controlled, in most cases. Hence, the technique is often referred to as a slow release instead of controlled release. In slow release coating assemblies, the nature of the barrier created by the polymer matrix of the binders is one of the most important factors determining the rate of release of the components concerned. Acharya and his colleagues reported their investigation into the influence of the process of the incorporation of deltamethrin, a widely used insecticide, into a typical solvent-based coating system on the slow release property of the insecticide. It was found that dispersion/mixing process played an important role in determining the rate of release of the insecticide.
Some naturally occurring materials possess anticorrosion properties. The mechanism of anticorrosion may vary due to the physical and chemical nature of the materials involved. Chetouani and his colleagues, Hammouti (with whom the editor shared a wonderful experience of communication over the Internet) and Benkaddour reported their study of jojoba oil as an anticorrosive additive for paint formulations. It was found that the main mechanism of anticorrosion was through the adsorption of the jojoba oil onto the surface of the substrate,forming a protective film. It would certainly be of interest to further investigate the efficiency of jojoba oil within typical anticorrosive coating formulations.
Readers may be aware that colour chemistry extends well beyond the study of dyes and pigments. On the other hand, while the applications of colour science vary, the underlining principles of colour formation remain unchanged. El-Mossalamy and Ibrahim studied the molecular charge transfer complexes of metal ion thiazolyl azo compounds with iodine in significant details. The optimum conditions for the formation of coloured complexes were found. Such a feature of colour formation could find uses in the spectrophotometric determination of trace quantity of relevant metal ions.
Turning now to editorial issues. Undoubtedly, modern information technologies have greatly helped communication between the editorial team and contributors. The editor would like to take this opportunity to encourage all future contributors to submit an electronic copy of their paper, in addition to two hardcopies as usual. It is also very important for contributors to provide the editorial team with as much contact details (such as e-mail address,telephone and fax numbers) as possible, together with the submission of their paper for consideration.
It is always easier to communicate through e-mail. The editorial team has to work towards strictly defined deadlines of editing and publication. Therefore,it would be very helpful if contributors could respond to e-mails from the editorial team promptly. Most readers would have noticed the format and style of the papers included in this journal. It would be very useful if contributors could prepare their paper strictly according to such format and style by following the “Notes for contributors” on the inside of the back cover of this journal. The editor would like to draw the future contributors'attention particularly to the required details of references including the full title of the paper/book, volume number, issue number, and number of the beginning page and ending page. Please do contact the editor if you require any help or clarification in preparing your paper for submission.
Overall, it has been a wonderful experience working with contributors from around the world. The editor would like to take this opportunity to thank all contributors for their interest and support and to welcome submissions from future contributors.
