The Role of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate on the Film Properties of Styrene-Butyl Acrylate-Acrylic Acid Copolymer Latex

Abstract

In this study, the concentration effect of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as a surfactant in the synthesis of styrene/acrylic acid/butyl acrylate copolymer (SAC) latex particles via seeded emulsion polymerization technique was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), minimum film-forming temperature (MFFT), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques were used to explain the change on physicochemical properties and morphology. The main goal is to determine an optimal surfactant concentration to obtain latexes with low MFFT. DLS studies showed that the particle size decreases 118.30 to 75.18 nm with the increase of SLS concentration. MFFT of latexes decreased with increasing SLS concentration. From the TGA curves, it was found that all the SAC latex particles exhibit a three-step decomposition process. The observed single Tg values for SAC particles showed that the latexes were prepared successfully.