SYNTHESIS and POLYMERIZATION KINETICS OF EMULSION POLYMERS

Hydrophilic or hydrophobic functional monomers impart unusual properties to latexes. The type, amount, and addition sequence of functional monomers affect the colloidal stability, film formation and mechanical properties of latexes. Carboxylic acid and hydroxyl functional monomers provide reactive sites for crosslinking. The colloidal stability of latex particles can be enhanced by functional groups such as carboxylic acids. The latexes with functional groups can also be used to graft inorganic materials to form hybrid materials. Functional groups on the latexes not only determine the morphology of the latexes, but also the polymerization kinetics. The present work focused on assessing the effects of the type and the amount of functional monomers on the physical properties of hybrid latexes (particle size, solid content, and glass transition temperature, etc.), polymerization kinetics of core-shell latexes and mechanical properties of thermoset latex films.