Flocculation of Polystyrene Latex with Mixtures of Poly(p-vinylphenol) and Poly(ethylene oxide)

Abstract

Poly(p-vinylphenol) (PVPh) was evaluated in conjunction with high molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as a flocculant for monodisperse surfactant-free polystyrene latex. PVPh was effective with performance similar to that of a commercial phenol formaldehyde resin (PFR). Flocculation was not sensitive to PVPh molecular weight in the range 1500−30 000. PVPh was most effective at intermediate pH values where the polyphenol was present as dispersed particles in the colloid size range. It is proposed that the flocculation involved hydrogen bond complexes between the PVPh particles and PEO. Molecular mechanics calculations of relative energies of PEO/PVPh complexes with varying hydrogen bonding sequences indicated that hydrogen bonding with adjacent or alternating polyether oxygens along the PEO chain was less favorable than that for complexes with bonding of every fourth or fifth oxygen. Polyacrylic acid, another polymer capable of hydrogen-bonded complexes with PEO, gave no latex flocculation. Kinetic analysis indicated that flocculation was an orthokinetic collision process.

Factors Affecting the Size of Aqueous Poly(vinylphenol-co-potassium styrenesulfonate)/Poly(ethylene oxide) Complexes

“…1,2,25 Our recent NMR studies demonstrated that both the phenolic and the styrenesulfonate rings in PKS (see Figure 1 for structure) interacted with PEO, 3 although the interaction between the phenolic group and PEO was stronger. 5 However, none of the previous studies gave information about the size of the PEO/phenolic polymer complexes.…”

“…1,2 The active flocculating agent is a water soluble complex formed between the nonionic PEO and anionic phenolic polymers. These are unusual flocculants because they depend on electrostatic attraction to the target colloids, which makes them effective in dirty systems.…”

Emulsifier-free emulsion copolymerization of styrene with quaternary ammonium cationic monomers

“…The apparent surface-charge density of the particles and the charge in the water-soluble polyelectrolytes were both determined by colloid titration. 15 Prior to titration, the latexes were further purified by repetitive centrifugation (4 h under 14 000 rpm, using an Eppendorf Centrifuge 5415C), decantation, and re-dispersion in water to remove the water-soluble polyelectrolytes that were collected in serums for further characterization. The purified particles and the water-soluble polyelectrolytes were titrated with 0.1 and 1.0 mN potassium polyvinyl sulfate (PVSK), respectively.…”

Cationic-modified cyclodextrin nanosphere/anionic polymer as flocculation/sorption systems

“…To solve this problem, several methods are employed to remove DCS in the paper slurry, especially for systems involving closed white water systems. The most common practice is the addition of cationic or nonionic polymers as flocculants to the system [19][20][21][22]. In this method, the DCS, particularly the colloidal substances, are removed via adsorption and formation of polyelectrolyte complexes.…”