MORPHOLOGY AND GRAFTING REACTIONS IN CORE SHELL LATEXES

The particle morphology and percent grafting were investigated as a function of the crosslink density of the seed latex in two systems of core/shell latexes of polybutadiene/polymethyl methacrylate (PB/PMMA) and styrene-butadiene rubber/polymethyl methacrylate (SBR/PMMA) prepared by seeded emulsion polymerization at 50 degree C. The thin layer chromatography/flame ionization detection (TLC/FID) technique was used to characterize the grafting efficiency of the core/shell latexes. The percent grafting of the shell polymer was found to decrease with increasing the crosslink density of the core material. The particle morphology and percent grafting were also investigated as a function of composition and structure of the core material.