In such a case, EPDM winds up more as a diluent than as a covulcanizate, Mr. Samuels explains. The high unsaturation of Epsyn 55 and its high chemical activity, he says, work against the preferential reaction and true covulcanization results.
Water-based paints now include polyamide/epoxy systems The convenience and practicality of water-based paints have been extended to polyamide/epoxy coating systems through a new polyamide curing agent developed by General Mills chemical division at Kankakee, 111. According to John Gracheck, market manager for coatings, the water-based epoxies are applicable to a range of formulationsgloss and semigloss enamels, block fillers, and primers. They are also practical for architectural, institutional, maintenance, or do-it-yourself work. The paint would be a two-package system (formulated by a paint man ufacturer). One part would contain the new polyamide curing agent, Versamid 265-WR70, in an organic sol vent solution. The other part would be based on a modified liquid bisphenol-A-epichlorohydrin epoxy resin con taining emulsifiers. General Mills sug gests that the latter, GenEpoxy M195, be emulsified at a ratio of 51.5% epoxy to 48.5% water for stability. In use, the polyamide and epoxy mix to form a paint that has a typical organic solvent content of 10% of the volatiles, the other 90% being water. Moreover, the two-package system can be hand-mixed and is usable without an induction period. Previous attempts at water-reduci ble epoxy coatings, Mr. Gracheck points out, have required high levels of organic solvent. Even so, solids levels were limited to about 2 5 % , since, beyond that, viscosity becomes too high for practical use. Typical of the new coating systems are formulations for enamels that contain more than 40% solids by volume. Also, pot life for the new epoxy paints is about six hours, compared to a maximum of one hour previously. Cure and gloss properties remain sta ble throughout the pot life, instead of changing gradually. Because of their properties, solventbased epoxies of all types are used widely. Since there are only carboncarbon and ether linkages in the pol ymer chains, the paints provide good chemical resistance. High in polar groups, the polymers have excellent adhesion. The large number of aro matic rings and the large distance between hydroxyls provide hardness and flexibility. 22 C&EN FEB. 19, 1968
Nothing has been sacrificed with the water-based systems, according to Mr. Gracheck. Corrosion inhibition, ad hesion, and water resistance are the same as with solvent systems, he says. General Mills expects the waterbased epoxies to find immediate use as concrete block fillers, with the semigloss and gloss enamels as top coats. The film toughness and water resist ance of the epoxies, the company feels, should in many cases overcome the somewhat higher cost compared to conventionally used latexes.
Cal State unit set up to study research, technology economics The impact of advancing technology on society—the concern of many an ex pert in academe, industry, and govern ment—will be the concern of a new center taking shape at California State College, Fullerton. Located in south ern California, a mecca of advanced technology, the college has formed the Economics of Technology Institute, the first unit in a planned Center for Research in Business, Economics, in the community. A second unit, an institute on labor and industrial relations, is in the final stages of approval. The college is al ready planning the third one, resources economics. The Economics of Technology Insti tute will function within the school of business administration and economics, which has 50 faculty members, 14 of them in the economics department. ΕΤΙ will concentrate on the economic aspects of advancing research and technology and will not concern itself with sociological and other parts of the problems. The larger picture will be covered by cooperation between the various institutes that will make up the center. To direct ΕΤΙ, Cal State reached all the way to the Department of Trans portation in Washington, D.C., and chose Gordon R. Chapman, a staff economist for the Office of Transporta tion Research. While there he de veloped programs in input-output, pro ductivity, and technological studies. Before that Mr. Chapman was a staff economist in the Department of La bor. In recent years, economists and en gineers have been operating less and less independently, Mr. Chapman says. Now there are many programs for gag ing economic development and many studies by government and industry. The 36-year-old economist sees his role as that of an entrepreneur—bringing together all the interacting and various research results. ΕΤΙ will work to ward measuring economic change
ΕΤΙ director Chapman Bull-headedness costs
meaningfully so that people can use the results in planning and in making decisions. Industry, Mr. Chapman be lieves, pays a high price in sticking to outmoded concepts. He calls it the "cost of bull-headedness." A major factor in ETI's work will be the input-output charts on 450 sectors of the economy that the Department of Commerce will issue late this year. Mr. Chapman will run these data into computers to use in his studies. He also expects to use Transim, a generalpurpose transportation simulator pro gram developed by UCLA's A. N. Feiler for the Commerce Department. He hopes to set up a technology li brary that will include all research re ports he can get from people working in the field. ΕΤΙ must be self-supporting, and its rate of progress will depend, at least at the start, on research grants from the Government. Chapman does see the prospect of getting industry, too, to sponsor projects. There are many aspects that concern industry directly, he notes, such as contract procurement and manpower problems. ΕΤΙ plans to sponsor three confer ences (probably this summer) : on R&D and technological change, con tract procurement for social science research, and manpower problems (the latter one will be held jointly with the labor and industrial relations insti tute). There are various other places doing technological studies, but Mr. Chap man thinks that ΕΤΙ will be the first comprehensive one. Dr. George Daniels at Northwestern University has proposed an institute for the study of science at the Evanston, 111., school. It too would deal with the impact of science and technology on soci ety.
