ABSTRACT
The ubiquitous nature of paint and our continual use of this unique material mask its complexity and evolution. It is often treated with condescension and lack of wonderment at its properties. Paint is one of the oldest artifacts of man and has been made since prehistoric times. Paint technology for the next millennium did not appear to progress beyond what was known in Greco-Roman times. There are many different types of paint, and these can be grouped in various ways, such as waterborne paints, solvent-based paints, and high solids paints. In all paint systems the pigment is always the disperse phase; however, it may not be the sole disperse phase. The color of a paint depends on the scattering of light as well as light absorption. The packing of contiguous solid particles is important in determining the properties of a paint film. Electrodeposition paints can be colloidally stabilized by anionic or cationic and even nonionic groups.
