49th Annual Waterborne Symposium

The School of Polymers and High Performance Materials at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) held its 49th Annual International Waterborne Symposium Feb. 22-25 in New Orleans. The Waterborne Symposium is a technical forum for environmentally friendly coatings technologies. 

Proceeds from the symposium are used by USM for various elements of academic program development, including junior faculty development, graduate student stipends, equipment acquisition and maintenance, and especially scholarships for undergraduate students majoring in polymer science. Most of these students enter the coatings or related polymer industries upon graduation. These scholarships are key to USM’s efforts to recruit the highest-achieving students into their Polymer program.

This year’s event featured 41 talks organized into several sessions related to various aspects of surface coatings: general, corrosion, powder, waterborne, additives and high solids.

Plenary Speaker, Panel Discussion, Keynote Address and Memorial Lecture

The first session commenced with plenary speaker, Robson Storey, Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering, The University of Southern Mississippi, and his presentation, “Alternative Polyurethane Polymers Cured Via Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition.”

Conventional polyurethane/polyuria polymers are crosslinked by a reaction of a polyisocyanate compound with a polyol of the polyester, polyether or polyacrylic type. Polyurethanes are used in many high-performance polymer applications, including coatings, adhesives, flexible and rigid foams and solid elastomers.

“Recently, there has been interest in polyurethane/polyuria polymers that can be crosslinked by alternative chemistries,” said Storey. “Our research group has developed a series of these polymers for coatings that cure by azide-alkyne cycloaddition.”

Following the plenary lecture, the eighth annual Sidney Lauren Memorial Lecture was given by Dean Webster, Professor, chair, Coatings and Polymeric Materials Department, North Dakota State University and his presentation, “Alternative Crosslinking Polyurethanes (ACPU): Novel Synthesis of Epoxy Functional Polyurethanes.”

Technology Showcase

In addition to the main technical program, the Waterborne Symposium also included a three-day Technology Showcase. Now in its 25th year, the showcase featured exhibitors offering information on emerging technologies, new materials, innovative services and equipment for the waterborne paint and coatings industry.

Student Poster Sessions/Awards

The Waterborne Symposium presented the Siltech Best Paper Innovation Award, the SK Mendon Best Student Paper Award and the Eastman Student Poster Awards.

Students presented their research during the Poster Session. This year’s session included student posters and a poster “lightning round” where students were given an opportunity to present the finding of their papers.

The Siltech Best Innovative Paper Award was given to Matthew J. Gadman of King Industries for “Unique Catalyst for Low Temperature Cure Epoxy Powder Coatings.”

The Thames-Mendon Best Student Paper Award was presented to Benjamin M. Alameda for “Hydrolyzable Poly(-Thioether Ester Ketal) Thermosets via Acyclic Ketal Monomers.”

Poster awards were as follows:

Undergraduate Student Poster Winners – First Place: Valeria Collo, Morgan Research Group, USM, “Structure-property Relationships of Bioinspired Glycohydrogels for Transcuticalar Drug.”

Delivery Applications;” Second Place: Jonathan Gray, Patton Research Group, USM, “Synthesis and Evaluation of the Oxygen Barrier Properties of Polyisobutylene Grafted Edge Oxidized Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Films.”

Graduate Student Poster Winners – First Place: Logan Dugas, Storey Research Group, USM, “Diketoenamine-based Vitrimers via Thiol-ene Photopolymerization;” Second Place: Samantha Daymon, Nazarenko Research Group, USM, “A Comparative Study of Hydrogen Bond Organization Between Three Generations of Dendrimers Based on bis-MPA,” Third Place: Maria Martinez, Pojman Research Group, LSU, “Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Frontal Polymerization in Thin Layers for Coatings; Fourth Place: Catherine Sarantas, Patton Research Group, USM, “Bulky Amines for Covalently Adaptable Polyurethanes.”

The 2023 Waterborne Symposium will be held Feb. 12-17 in New Orleans. The venue will be announced at a later date.

2023 Call for Papers

The School of Polymers and High Performance Materials at The University of Southern Mississippi has issued a call for papers for presentation at the 50th Annual International Waterborne Symposium, Feb. 12-17 in New Orleans.

Papers should relate to new and emerging technologies related to materials, processes, production, characterization, application and markets in the field of surface coatings. All papers should be original and represent recent advances in coatings science and related disciplines. Title, abstract and author’s names (speaker’s name underlined) should be submitted by mail, fax or e-mail no later than Aug. 15 to School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, The University of Southern Mississippi, Box 10063, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0063; 601-266-4475; Fax: 601- 266-6265; E-mail: waterborne@usm.edu; Web: www.psrc.usm.edu/waterborne