PARTICLE SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS OF PERMANENTLY CHARGED POLY(STYRENE CATIONIC COMONOMER) LATTICES

The preparation and characterization of latices obtained by emulsion copolymerization of styrene and N-trimethyl N-ethylmethacrylate ammonium salts (TMA) have been described. The cationic comonomer content was varied over the range 0-20 wt%. Properties such as size, monodispersity, colloidal stability, surface charge density and saturation adsorption of surfactants and protein were measured. The efficiency of comonomer incorporation in the particles ranged from 38% for 80/01 to 15% for 80/20 styrene/TMA copolymer particles. Incorporation of TMA by seeded emulsion polymerization using polystyrene as the seed showed very low efficiency of incorporation (0.6%). The adsorption data are discussed in terms of the particle surface characteristics. © 1990.