Aqueous dispersions and coatings

1. A method, comprising:

providing an oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer having an oxirane functionality of 0.5 to 5;

providing an acid-functional polymer having an acid number of 30 to 500;

reacting the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer and the acid-functional polymer together in the presence of a tertiary amine to form a water-dispersible polymer; and

dispersing the water-dispersible polymer in a carrier comprising water.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water-dispersible polymer is substantially free of mobile BPA and aromatic glycidyl ether compounds.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water-dispersible polymer is essentially free of BPA and aromatic glycidyl ether compounds.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water-dispersible polymer is completely free of BPA and aromatic glycidyl ether compounds.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer is formed by reacting one or more oxirane-functional monomers with one or more other monomers.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer is formed by reacting one or more oxirane-functional monomers with one or more other monomers in a carrier.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the oxirane-functional monomer is a glycidyl ester of an alpha, beta-unsaturated acid, or anhydride thereof.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the oxirane-functional monomer is selected from the group consisting of glycidyl (meth)acrylate, mono- and di-glycidyl itaconate, mono- and di-glycidyl maleate, and mono- and di-glycidyl formate, and mixtures thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer is formed by reacting a copolymer of an alpha, beta-unsaturated acid and an alkyl (meth)acrylate with a glycidyl halide or tosylate to position pendant glycidyl groups on the acrylate copolymer.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer has an oxirane functionality of 0.9 to 3.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer has a number average molecular weight of 2,500 to 20,000.

12. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more other monomers are selected from the group consisting of alkyl (meth)acrylate and vinyl monomers.

13. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more other monomers comprises a vinyl monomer selected from the group consisting of styrene, halostyrene, isoprene, diallylphthalate, divinylbenzene, conjugated butadiene, alpha-methylstyrene, vinyl toluene, vinyl naphthalene, and mixtures thereof.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer is formed by reacting one or more oxirane-functional monomers with one or more hydroxy-functional monomers and with one or more other monomers.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the one or more oxirane-functional monomers is selected from the group consisting of glycidyl (meth)acrylate, mono- and di-glycidyl itaconate, mono- and di-glycidyl maleate, and mono- and di-glycidyl formate, and mixtures thereof; the one or more hydroxy-functional monomers is selected from the group consisting of hydroxyethyl (meth)acrylate, hydroxypropyl (meth)acrylate, and mixtures thereof; and the one or more other monomers is selected from the group consisting of styrene, halostyrene, isoprene, diallylphthalate, divinylbenzene, conjugated butadiene, alpha-methylstyrene, vinyl toluene, vinyl naphthalene, and mixtures thereof.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer comprises (by weight) 30 to 70 parts styrene; 3 to 10 parts glycidyl (meth)acrylate; and 30 to 70 parts hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acid-functional polymer is an acid-functional vinyl addition polymer and comprises homopolymers or copolymers prepared from ethylenically unsaturated acid or anhydride monomers and other optional monomers.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the acid-functional vinyl addition polymer has a number average molecular weight of 2,000 to 15,000.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the acid-functional vinyl addition polymer comprises 5 to 20 parts (by weight) styrene, 30 to 70 parts alkyl (meth)acrylate, and 30 to 70 parts acidic-functional monomer.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tertiary amine is selected from the group: R 14 R 15 R 16 N, wherein R 14 , R 15 and R 16 are substituted or unsubstituted monovalent alkyl groups containing one to eight carbon atoms in the alkyl portion.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tertiary amine is selected from the group consisting of: trimethyl amine, dimethyl ethanol amine, methyl diethanol amine, ethyl methyl ethanol amine, dimethyl ethyl amine, dimethyl propyl amine, dimethyl 3-hydroxy-1-propyl amine, dimethylbenzyl amine, dimethyl 2-hydroxy-1-propyl amine, diethyl methyl amine, dimethyl 1-hydroxy-2-propyl amine, and mixtures thereof.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water-dispersible polymer comprises at least 0.8 equivalent of tertiary amine per equivalent of oxirane group.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water-dispersible polymer is provided in a coating composition comprising a crosslinking resin.

24. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding a nonreactive filler polymer before or after dispersing the water-dispersible polymer in the carrier.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the nonreactive filler polymer is added before, during, or after reacting the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer and the acid-functional vinyl addition polymer together in the presence of a tertiary amine.

26. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding a reactive polymer or monomers before or after dispersing the water-dispersible polymer in the carrier.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the reactive polymer or monomers are added before, during, or after reacting the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer and the acid-functional vinyl addition polymer together in the presence of a tertiary amine.

28. A method, comprising:

providing an oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer having an oxirane functionality of 0.5 to 5;

providing an acid-functional polymer having an acid number of 30 to 500;

providing a tertiary amine;

combining the acid-functional polymer with the tertiary amine to form a mixture and at least partially neutralize the acid-functional polymer;

combining and recting the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer and the mixture to form a water-dispersible polymer; and

dispersing the water-dispersible polymer in a carrier comprising water.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the mixture is added over a period of time to the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer.

30. A method, comprising:

providing an oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer having an oxirane funcationality of 0.5 to 5 and a number average molecular weight of 2,500 to 20,000;

wherein the oxirane-functional vinyl polymer is the reaction product of 1 to 10 wt. % oxirane-functional monomer, 0 to 60 wt. % hydroxy-functional monomer, and the balance other monomer;

providing an acid-functional polymer having an acid number of 30 to 500 and a number average molecular weight of 2,000 to 15,000; wherein the acid-functional polymer is a vinyl polymer formed as the reaction product of at least 15 wt. % acid-functional monomer and the balance other monomer;

reacting the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer and the acid-functional polymer together in the presence of a tertiary amine to form a water-dispersible polymer; and

dispersing the water-dispersible polymer in a carrier comprising water;

wherein the weight ratio of the oxirane-functional vinyl addition polymer to acid-functional polymer is 90:10 to 50:50 and the ratio of amine:oxirane groups is 0.8:1 to 5:1.