| abstract |
An emulsion comprising water as the continuous phase, a wax as the discontinuous phase, an emulsifier and a preservative having the general structure: (I) wherein R1 can be a heterocycle containing nitrogen and sulfur, such as thiazolyl, isothiazolyl, or thiadiazolyl, which can optionally be substituted with C1-C6 alkyl; R2 can be hydrogen or C1-C6 alkyl, specifically hydrogen; n is 0, 1, 2, or 3; each instance of R3 can independently be hydrogen, C1-C6 alkyl, phenoxy, C1-C6 alkoxy, halo, amino, C1-C6 alkylamino, di C1-C6 alkyl amino, imidazolyl, thiazolyl, isothiazolyl, thiadiazolyl, thienyl, furyl, pyrryl, naphthyl, phenyl, halophenyl, C1-C6 alkyl phenyl, or C1-C6 alkoxyphenyl. The preservative may be added to the emulsion after the emulsion is formed. The emulsion can be incorporated into a gypsum product such as gypsum board or gypsum wood fiber board. The gypsum product may be made by forming a slurry containing gypsum, water, and the emulsion into a solid product. A method for improving the water resistance of a lignocellulosic composite product prepared by mixing lignocellulosic material with a binder to form a mixture and solidifying the mixture in a selected configuration to form the composite product may include adding to the mixture an emulsion as described above. |