http://ask.metafilter.com/98691/paint-separation/ Comments on Ask MetaFilter post paint separation Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:43:54 -0800 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:43:54 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://ask.metafilter.com/98691/paint-separation is it possible to separate water from a water-based paint? how? thanks post:ask.metafilter.com,2008:site.98691 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:27:48 -0800 KaeporaGaebora paint water-based filtration separation http://ask.metafilter.com/98691/paint-separation#1436629 Evaporation? Can you describe the paint a little more? What's your end goal? comment:ask.metafilter.com,2008:site.98691-1436629 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:43:54 -0800 jdfan http://ask.metafilter.com/98691/paint-separation#1436631 Latex paints consist of a colloidal suspension of nanoscale polymer particles in water. Ultrafiltration or centrifugation would both work to separate the particles out. The water you obtained in this way would likely still contain residual surfactants, stabilizers, and various other chemical additives. You could get these out by distillation, reverse osmosis, or, likely, adsorption onto activated carbon. comment:ask.metafilter.com,2008:site.98691-1436631 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:44:48 -0800 mr_roboto http://ask.metafilter.com/98691/paint-separation#1436634 And, yeah, you could probably distill the paint itself as jdfan suggests, but the polymer particles will really gunk up your apparatus. comment:ask.metafilter.com,2008:site.98691-1436634 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:46:21 -0800 mr_roboto