Fluoropolymer‐based clear and white paint coatings composition analysis by X‐Ray fluorescence

A new method for the quantification of organic and inorganic phase fractions was developed for fluoropolymer/acrylic‐blend paints – clear and white paint coatings – on aluminum panels by using wavelength dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry (WDXRF). The method was developed for clear coat samples (only containing fluoropolymer and acrylic phases) as well as white paint samples by also measuring silica and titanium dioxide levels. Both WDXRF and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), a surface technique, were investigated. For clear coat samples, we found that WDXRF provided far superior quantitative results to XPS, likely related to the extreme surface sensitivity of XPS, in this case a drawback more than a strength. For white paint samples, the X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry method achieved a relative accuracy typically better than 5% for the organic phases and better than 2% for the inorganic phases, for measurements on 8‐mm diameter samples. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.