Effects of surface functional groups on film formation and tensile strength development in reactive latex systems

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Abstract
The effect of surface functional groups on chain interdiffusion at the interfacial zone of reactive latexes was investigated. A series of latexes with different surface functionalities was prepared by batch or shot‐growth emulsion polymerizations. The particle surface properties were varied by changing the number density of functional groups. The rate of tensile strength development decreases with the increasing number density of surface functional groups, which indicated that inter‐particle crosslinking restricted the interdiffusion of polymer chains during film formation and annealing. The average diffusion coefficient D of polymer chains across particle interfaces was obtained from dynamic mechanical analysis and compared well with the results from the rate of tensile strength development. The magnitude of D of the reactive latex film was lower than that of the homopolymer film. The lower chain mobility of reactive latexes prevented mechanical strength development.