Curing Time and Water Repellent Properties of Dammar-Titanium Dioxide Thin Film

Dammar plant resin is a local natural resin that can be bled from Dipterocaupacea sp of tree. It can be found abundantly in Malaysia’s tropical forest especially in Sarawak. Dammar and Titanium Dioxide was mixed in a various wt% to produce Dammar-modified Titanium Dioxide coating system. The modified coating systems were then spin-coated onto Aluminium Q-panel as the substrate. Coated Q-panels were left to cure at room temperature. The curing time was evaluated using dust free stage. The addition of Titanium Dioxide into the coating system fastens the curing time taken for the coated Q-panel to be cure. It only took about 11-12 minutes to dry compared to the coating system before the addition of Titanium Dioxide where a quite long duration required, 32 minutes. Contact angle measurement was also carried out in order to determine the wettability of the coating system. The surface coated with dammar-modified titanium dioxide found to be hydrophobic where a quite large contact angle obtained for the sample with 3 wt% of Titanium Dioxide (PDT3). The water droplets actually rest on the coating surface without wetting the surface. Water absorption test was done to strengthen the contact angle results where coated substrate was soaked into distilled water for 24 hours and being weighed before and after soaking. The difference of before and after soaking weigh showed that the coating surface does not absorb that much water where only approximately 0.02% of water being absorbed by the coating system for 3 wt%. It proved that the coating systems applied are hydrophobic.