Bruce Alan Gruber

Effects of colloidal stabilizer on vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer emulsions and films

For vinyl acetate-ethylene (VAE) emulsion polymerization, a comparison of stabilization mechanisms and their effect upon latex and film properties was made in which the different stabilizers were poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH), alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) surfactants, and a urethane linked poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) based polymer. PVOH stabilized VAE emulsions possessed high viscosity and no freeze-thaw stability while the films were actually continuous in PVOH, much of which was due to the high content of PVOH in the continuous aqueous phase. APE stabilized VAE latexes were also of higher viscosity and the surfactants were miscible in the VAE continuous films. PEG-based stabilization resulted in emulsions and films which were largely affected by the hydrophobicity of the latex (amount of ethylene incorporated into the copolymer).