Architectural coatings/paints play a very important role in our world, making our houses and workplaces beautiful, comfortable, and energy-efficient. Polymeric components of coating formulations include latex or binder, dispersants, and thickeners or rheology modifiers [RM]). This review is devoted to the RMs, primarily associative thickeners [AT], specifically highlighting the relationship between the thickener molecular structure, paint formulation, rheology, and application. We briefly describe the chemistries of various associative thickeners (“hydrophobic alkali-swellable emulsion” [HASE], hydrophobically modified hydroxyethylcellulose [HMHEC], and “hydrophobically modified ethoxylated urethane” [HEUR]) polymers. Concentrating on the HEUR thickeners, we then review the structure and rheology of their aqueous solutions and of model paints containing HEURs and latex particles in water. For model paints, we review experimental studies (rheology, NMR, and SANS) and theoretical models from molecular-level classical Molecular Dynamics [MD] to mesoscale coarse-grained MD to large-scale rheology calculations. Lastly, influence of rheological metrics on specific paint application features (flow and leveling, sag resistance, and brush drug) is discussed. We conclude by highlighting opportunities and challenges for future research.

建筑涂料/油漆在我们的世界中发挥着非常重要的作用，使我们的房屋和工作场所变得美丽、舒适和节能。涂料配方的聚合物组分包括胶乳或粘合剂、分散剂和增稠剂或流变改性剂 [RM])。这篇综述专门讨论 RM，主要是缔合增稠剂 [AT]，特别强调了增稠剂分子结构、涂料配方、流变学和应用之间的关系。我们简要描述了各种缔合增稠剂（“疏水碱溶胀乳液”[HASE]、疏水改性羟乙基纤维素 [HMHEC] 和“疏水改性乙氧基化聚氨酯”[HEUR]）聚合物的化学性质。专注于 HEUR 增稠剂，然后，我们回顾了它们的水溶液以及在水中含有 HEUR 和乳胶颗粒的模型涂料的结构和流变学。对于模型涂料，我们回顾了从分子水平经典分子动力学 [MD] 到中尺度粗粒度 MD 再到大规模流变学计算的实验研究（流变学、NMR 和 SANS）和理论模型。最后，讨论了流变指标对特定涂料应用特性（流动和流平、抗流挂性和刷药性）的影响。最后，我们强调了未来研究的机遇和挑战。讨论了流变指标对特定涂料应用特性（流动和流平、抗流挂性和刷药性）的影响。最后，我们强调了未来研究的机遇和挑战。讨论了流变指标对特定涂料应用特性（流动和流平、抗流挂性和刷药性）的影响。最后，我们强调了未来研究的机遇和挑战。