CHARACTERIZATION OF LOW-DENSITY POLYBUTADIENE LATEXES BY SEDIMENTATION FIELD-FLOW FRACTIONATION

A procedure based on sedimentation field-how fractionation for physical characterization of polydisperse latexes is presented. The particle density, dimensions, polydispersity, size distribution and aggregation can be determined for both narrow and wide polydispersities. The procedure is applied to the sample case of polybutadiene latexes with density lower than water. The results are compared with independent measurements obtained by electron microscopy. The relevance of significant steps of the procedure, such as the nonequilibrium corrections, are discussed.