Reactive Latex Films

Abstract

Porous polymer films have been prepared from poly(butyl methacrylate) latex particles with surface sulfonate groups and been shown to retain up to 90% of the catalytic capacity of the original latex particles. Advantages of latex films over latex particles as reactive surfaces include easier removal from the reaction medium and easier cleaning/rejuvenation of the polymer films. The films have been characterized by specific surface area, mercury porosimetry, and conductometric titration. Reactivity was evaluated for the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of ethyl methanoate.

Porous Film Coating Enabled by Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP) for Enhanced Air Permeability of Fabrics: The Effect of PVP Molecule Weight and Dosage

“…Examples of pore forming agents tested include small molecule additives (e.g., urea, glycerol, glucose, sucrose, etc.) [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ] and water-soluble polymers (WSPs) (e.g., polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol (PEG), etc.) [ 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”

Porous polymer films cast from latex–glucose dispersions

“…A partially coalesced sample of this latex, i.e. of the structure typically obtained using pore forming agents in other studies [11][12][13][14], would exhibit absorbance intermediate to these two references.…”

“…In this final state the porous latex film is robust and not further affected if re-immersed in water and redried ambiently. Some studies [14] employ freeze-drying to avoid the pore closure on final water evaporation, however the difference for our samples would only be small and ambient drying is more relevant to realities of industrial production and use of the materials.…”

“…A related approach analogous to paper coating structures entails mixing larger non-film-forming latex with lesser amounts of smaller film-forming latex to serve as glue [10,12], or use of core-shell latex with a hard core and soft shell. Another general strategy uses addition of a pore forming agent to the latex dispersion, which is thus incorporated into the latex film during film formation and removed afterwards [11][12][13][14][15]. Liquid agents must be water miscible and not destabilize the latex dispersion, and be readily removed from the film by leaching in water.…”

“…The resulting pore space and permeability is dictated by the relative amount of additive, its compatibility and mobility during latex film formation and the degree of pore collapse during leaching and post-drying. Examples of pore forming agents tested are glycerol [11,14], sucrose [12][13][14], dissolvable second latex [14] and urea [15]. In these studies the porous latex films obtained are generally structurally similar to the partially coalesced state mentioned above, exhibiting discernable, individual latex particles with somewhat increased interstitial porosity and a slightly looser packing.…”