The paint industry is a huge consumer of latex from emulsion polymerization. The surfactants, essential to the stability of the latex, play a crucial role in the production and application of emulsion polymers. However, they can also have adverse effects on product properties due to their physical adsorption on the polymer particles. The unbound surfactants can migrate through the film toward the interfaces forming aggregates which increase water sensitivity of the film, thus affecting its barrier properties. A promising way to reduce the negative effects of the conventional surfactants is to use polymerizable or reactive surfactants (surfmers) that are covalently linked to the polymer, which avoids its desorption and migration during the film formation. In this work vinyl acetate - vinyl neodecanoate (VeoVa 10®) latexes, stabilized with conventional and reactive nonionic surfactant, were prepared and the performance of these films was evaluated. It was noted that latexes stabilized with nonionic polymerizable surfactants can bring, under certain conditions, better barrier properties.
Emulsion polymerization; polymerizable surfactants; water absorption; surfactant migration
