Coagulation of Carboxylic Acid-Functionalized Latexes

In the present work, the stability of particles produced by emulsion polymerization and stabilized by carboxylic acid groups was studied from turbidity measurements. To achieve this, a number of copolymerization runs was carried out under different reaction conditions, including the use of different carboxylic monomers. Partitioning analyses using conductimetric and potentiometric titrations were performed in order to assess the distribution of carboxylic monomers among the main phases of the produced latexes. Additionally, the stability and coalescence of particles were measured by turbidimetry in a diluted latex considering either the presence or not of the anionic surfactant sodium lauryl sulfate. Coalescence of particles was provoked in the latex samples at different temperatures by addition of an aliquot of a concentrated solution of electrolyte. The influence of surfactant, temperature and type of carboxylic acid group on the particle stability was investigated.