Slip & Mobility

Slip properties (sometimes called lubricity) represents the ability of two surfaces to glide over each other without causing any mechanical damage. Good slip properties require that the slip additive concentrate to the surface during and immediately after application and curing.

Generally speaking, the harder the wax, the better the slip properties. This is explained by the fact that wax crystals in the solid state are the main factor responsible for the characteristic of slip. While softer waxes tend to be more easily liquefied, and as a consequence, exhibit a lower proportion of solid crystals, the harder waxes resist liquefying and have a relatively higher proportion of crystals in the solid state to impart slip.

Thanks to this property, wax is widely used in Inks, OPV's & Primers, Paper, Film, & Foil, and Metal coatings application.

Slip resistance is the ability to manipulate the surface energy by increasing the coefficient of friction of a cured coating. This can be realized by addition of wax surface modifiers.

In particular, polypropylene wax emulsions control slip without adversely affecting scratch and mar resistance. Furthermore, polypropylene waxes also have good migration performance which results in an increased wax density on the coating surface.

When formulating with polypropylene wax emulsions, it is crucial to adapt the particle size of the emulsion to the coating layer, in order to maximize the wax effects on the coating surface.

Wax emulsions are used for their slip resistance property in Floor Polish.