Effects of size, shape and floatage of Cu particles on the low infrared emissivity coatings

Low infrared emissivity coating was prepared by the copper (Cu) particles and ethylene–propylene–diene monomer (EPDM) binder. The effect of size, shape and floatage of Cu particles on infrared emissivity of the coatings was systematically investigated. The results indicated that the optimized Cu particles with the minimum coating emissivity are several micron-sized, flaky and high-leafing, exhibiting 0.78, 0.72 and 0.10 emissivity value, respectively. The formation of low infrared emissivity coatings depends strongly on the floatage of Cu particles, not the size or shape, and the results obtained by leafing aluminum (Al) and bismuth oxide (Bi₂O₃) pigment are in good agreement with this standpoint. A theoretical model was proposed to account for the mechanism, which indicated that the low porosity of the coatings with leafing pigments plays an important role in the formation of low emissivity coatings.