Crosslinking chemistry and network structure in organic coatings. I. Cure of melamine formaldehyde/acrylic copolymer films

Abstract Crosslinking chemistry and network formation in hydroxy and carboxy functional acrylic copolymer resins cured with representative melamine‐formaldehyde crosslinking agents have been studied by infrared spectroscopy. Network formation in these systems is dominated by two reactions, the condensation of the hydroxy (or carboxy) functionality of the acrylic resin with melamine alkoxy groups to form acrylic‐melamine crosslinks, and the condensation of melamine hydroxy groups to form melamine‐melamine crosslinks. The extents of these reactions have been studied as functions of acrylic resin composition, melamine type and concentration, and cure time and temperature. For melamines with just methoxy functionality, the extent of formation of acrylic‐melamine crosslinks increased steadily with cure temperature. For melamines with substantial hydroxy functionality, the extent of formation of acrylic‐melamine crosslinks increased rapidly then leveled off with increasing cure temperature. The formation of melamine‐melamine crosslinks increased slowly with increasing cure temperature. From these data and a statistical model, effective crosslink densities were calculated. The crosslink densities correlated well with solvent resistance.