Review water borne vs solvent borne vs solventless epoxies.

Since you asked, here are my fundamental views on the use of solvent borne, water borne and solventless epoxies.

They are all epoxies, what changes is the delivery of the resin or how it is carried. I will start by saying that each method of carrying does have its advantages and no one type is the best for all applications. Some quick definitions
Water borne (WBE), meaning the epoxy has water present that evaporates during application. The resin is water soluble or water based. Solvent borne (SBE), meaning the epoxy has a solvent present that evaporates during application. The resin is soluble with certain types of solvents. Solventless (SLE), meaning the epoxy has no solvents present that evaporate during application. The resin is still soluble with certain types of solvents. Because it does not contain solvents, SLE is often described as 100% solids.

Water-based coatings are soluble in water, which means water is used when cleaning brushes etc. Image source - www.inthishouse.com

OK, so you now know the difference, but how does that impact on which one I choose? There are all sorts of reasons why an epoxy user might choose one over the other. However, if we consider the application of a coating on concrete floors, here are some fundamental differences to consider.

Solvent borne Epoxy SBE was the traditional epoxy. The solvents enabled the coating to apply easily in thin films and the solvent also dealt with all sorts of formulating problems like surface tension. It was originally designed to protect steel but was later used to protect concrete structures and has been adapted to be used in flooring. Its viscosity and relative ease of use (including long potlife) makes it an adaptable type of coating where thin films are required, however the product can have some nasty aspects (eg solvents). From my experience I dont believe applying thin floor coatings (less than 150 microns total dry film thickness) provides a long term solution on concrete due to the inherent profile of the concrete. Water borne Epoxy WBE was first used on flooring to deal with hydrostatic pressures in concrete slabs. (A quick side note, hydrostatic pressure is when there is pressure applied from under the concrete slab that pushes its way through the concrete and can cause the coating to delaminate. Often this occurs if the water table rises below a slab with no, or broken, water proofing plastic under the slab) WBE is characterised by a creamy texture and is wonderful to roll out it is effortless and applicators love it as it goes a long way. As it is water soluble, it can easily penetrate into the slab pores and then crosslink, blocking off the pores and hence the hydrostatic pressure. WBE is considered by many as a better environmental alternative, but being water based does not necessarily mean it has less impact on the environment. That is a whole new topic that I might need to cover later. As WBE is so easy to use, there is a natural tendency to try to use it for purposes other than hydrostatic pressure applications. Manufacturers try to formulate it so that it can be used as basecoats or even topcoats on concrete floors. There are some inherent problems that can occur when extending the use beyond its initial intent. From my experience, WBE epoxy does not have the performance or the reliability to be used as a basecoat or topcoat on concrete floors.

Solventless Epoxy SLE has the performance of SBE, but does not contain the evaporative solvent. Without the solvent, the viscosity is quite different and it does apply quite differently. If you are used to either SBE or WBE and you wanted to change to SLE, then I would spend some time talking to your manufacturer and playing with some sample product. The capability of SLE is tremendous and very versatile but do not think that it can do the job of a WBE for hydrostatic pressure or that it can produce films that are less than 100 microns like a SBE. As I said at the start, each technology has its own advantages. For concrete flooring, I will only talk about solventless two pack epoxy technology as it is the most versatile across the industries I have worked in industries including decorative, commercial, industrial, heavy industrial, non slip, chemical protection and underwater.