MORPHOLOGY, THERMAL-PROPERTY, AND MECHANICAL PROPERTY OF CORE-SHELL LATEX POLYMERS - I - EFFECT OF HEATING AND PRESSURING ON PBA PS LINEAR COMPOSITE POLYMER/

In this work, butyl acrylate and styrene were used as monomers in the first stage and second stage of polymerization, respectively, and pota ssium persulfate (K2S2O8) was used as the initiator to synthesize the poly(butyl acrylate)-polystyrene (PBA/PS) composite latex by the metho d of two-stage soapless emulsion polymerization. The morphology of the latex particles was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM ), which showed that the composite latex particles had a core-shell st ructure. The particle-size distribution of the composite latex was ver y uniform. A thin layer of a PBA-graft-PS copolymer was formed in betw een the core (PBA) and shell (PS) regions, which thus increased the co mpatibility between the PBA and PS phases. The process of heating and pressuring influenced the morphology, mechanical properties, and therm al properties of the PBA/PS composite polymer. (C) 1998 John Wiley & S ons, Inc.