Aqueous Emulsion Acrylic Binders for Low‐Foaming Ceramic Slips

Abstract

Experiments are reported to fundamentally understand foaming in ceramic slips. Adsorption of two different types of surfactants, one anionic and another nonionic, onto alumina powders was studied. The most significant observation was that while the anionic surfactant strongly adsorbed onto alumina powders, the nonionic surfactant had essentially no adsorption. A model polymer based on the anionic surfactant was synthesized and compared with a similar polymer prepared with the nonionic surfactant. The comparison demonstrated that while the model polymer foamed severely in its neat form, it produced a very low‐foaming ceramic slip when formulated with alumina powder because the surface‐active agents in the binder strongly adsorbed onto the powder. Based on these fundamental understandings, a series of aqueous emulsion acrylic Duramax binders were developed. The influence of these binders on foaming in alumina slips is reported.

Adsorption of Dodecylbenzenesulfonic Acid on the Alumina Particles in the Preparation of Alumina Foam

“…DBSA is an anionic surfactant which is strongly adsorbed on the surface of the alumina particles at pH lower than the isoelectric point unlike nonionic surfactants which are essentially not adsorbed in the vicinity of the isoelectric point of alumina [20].…”