Effect of Polymeric Emulsifier and Ratio of Soft/Hard Monomer on the Property of Acrylic Emulsion as Fabric Stiffening Agent

Abstract

By adding polymeric emulsifier, acrylic emulsion as the fabric stiffening agent with core-shell structure was synthesized visa monomer concentration gradient dropwise addition method. The effect of synthetic condition such as the content of polymeric emulsifier and ratio of soft monomer (BA)/hard monomer (MMA) on properties of acrylic emulsion were studied in detail, and the role of polymeric emulsifier during the process of the film-forming was also discussed. Films after tackiness resistance, minimum filming temperature (MFT) and glass transition temperature (Tg) were tested by QNF, QMB type measuring instrument and differential scanning calorimeters (DSC), respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observed the morphology of latex particles. Results showed 40wt% polymeric emulsifier was the best emulsifying system in term of emulsion stability, after tackiness resistance, MFT and appearance of the emulsion. DSC analysis confirmed that the polymeric emulsifier and acrylic emulsion could not fully achieve thermodynamic compatibility. In addition, TEM results showed that latex particles prepared by monomer concentration gradient dropwise addition method had obvious core-shell structure. Hydrogen-bond interaction between polymeric emulsifiers carboxyls played a great role in the film-forming process, so polymeric emulsifier could improve films after tackiness resistance and MFT.