Impact of selected driers on the curing kinetics, thermodynamics, and molecular features of commercial artists' oil paints

The study investigates the impact of various metal-based driers on the curing process of commercial artists’ oil paints, focusing on drying time, curing kinetics, molecular structure, and mechanical properties of the final paint film. Six custom-made formulations with different metal-based driers (calcium, zirconium, cobalt, cobalt with calcium, and cobalt with manganese) were tested. Results showed that cobalt-containing driers significantly reduced drying time, while calcium and zirconium had a moderate effect. Cobalt combined with calcium further decreased the drying time, whereas manganese slightly increased it. Depending on the drier and/or driers’ combination the curing kinetic and thermodynamic are influenced. Cobalt-based driers increase surface polarity and promote inhomogeneous cross-linking density. All driers had an influence on the mechanical properties of the paint films: after three years of natural ageing paint layers containing driers are stiffer.