The Waterborne Symposium

Abstract

"Reactive emulsifiers have been known to the industry for around 50 years. Their use, however, remains limited, which can be attributed both to high prices of such surfactants and to scarce information on their state in the final disperse polymer system. Both the behavior during polymerization and the final state of the reactive emulsifier in the disperse polymer system depend on reactivity rates towards the conventionally used monomers. Copolymerization rates with some monomer systems may be given [1], but it is also known that a micelle can lead to special crowded conditions, thus lending an increased reactivity to seemingly less reactive polymerizable groups on reactive surfactants [2]. We set out to shed light on the topic and connect the dots, giving data on polymerization, polymerized reactive emulsifier, and application properties of the polymer film. Application benefits versus conventional emulsifiers in an optimized system may require tedious optimization trials if the reactive emulsifier does not work as a drop-in replacement and thus also hamper the use of the latter.
In this contribution, we will share the polymerization data of conventional versus reactive emulsifiers in industry-relevant recipes. We will also share the amount of polymerized versus free emulsifier after polymerization by means of various analytical techniques. This will then be correlated to application tests studying water resistance and wet scrub resistance.

[1] Tsukahara, Hosaka, Shirar, PCI Magazine 2013 (??)
https://www.pcimag.com/articles/98225-reactive-emulsifiers-for-emulsion-polymerization#:~:text=Reactive%20emulsifiers%20provide%20the%20micelles,2%2DEHA)%2C%20etc.

[2] Nagai, Journal of Adhesion Society of Japan 1997, 33 (6), 233

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