Chemical Name: Sodium Naphthalene Sulfonate Formaldehyde Condensate
Appearance: Dark brown to black viscous liquid
Composition: Produced by condensing naphthalene sulfonic acid and formaldehyde in the presence of sodium hydroxide.
Structure: Aromatic sulfonate polymer with sodium as counter ion. High molecular weight.
Solubility: Soluble in water and polar organic solvents. Insoluble in non-polar solvents.
Mechanism of Action: Absorbs onto mineral/pigment surfaces and stabilizes through electrosteric repulsion.
Function: Acts as dispersing agent to deagglomerate particles and provide stability against settling.
Applications: Widely used as dispersant in paints, coatings, inks, ceramics, plastics, pesticides etc.
Benefits: Strong bonding, steric hindrance and rheology control allows highly concentrated stable dispersions.
Toxicity: Low to moderate oral toxicity. Risk of eye/skin irritation with concentrated forms.
Regulations: Approved for use in many industrial products and listed under several regulatory inventories.
Sodium Naphthalene Sulfonate Formaldehyde Condensate (NNO) helps disperse pigments in paints, coatings, inks and plastics
Electrostatic stabilization: NNO molecules absorb onto pigment surfaces, imparting an electric charge that causes electrostatic repulsion between particles. This prevents flocculation.
Steric stabilization: The large, branching structure of NNO provides a steric barrier that physically prevents pigment particles from aggregating together.
Dispersion during mixing: NNO aids the deagglomeration of pigment aggregates into primary particles during high-shear mechanical mixing.
Viscosity modification: It imparts the optimal rheology to dispersions to allow thorough mixing without re-settling of pigments.
Wetting of hydrophobic pigments: NNO enhances the wetting of pigment surfaces by polar/non-polar vehicle liquids for improved dispersion.
Thermal stability: Absorbed NNO layers protect pigments from flocculation due to heat during curing/processing of coatings and plastics.
Lightfastness: NNO promotes excellent color strength, gloss and opacity of coatings while stabilizing pigments against UV degradation.
Long-term storage stability: Dispersions containing NNO retain a high level of pigment dispersion over extended times without sedimentation.
