Preparation of an acrylics-grafted polyester and its aqueous dispersion

An investigation was undertaken to develop a new class of water-borne polye sters having excellent dispersibility without using emulsifiers. Grafting r eactions of hydrophilic acrylics to polyesters and the relationships betwee n reaction conditions and the dispersion diameters are discussed. Aqueous d ispersions of particles having small diameters were obtained by use of an u nsaturated polyester. Particle diameters were related to the grafting effic iency that could be enhanced by copolymerization of reactive monomers with the unsaturated bonds of polyesters. The relationships between particle dia meters and the kind of acrylic monomers were described by the copolymerizat ion reactivity ratio of the unsaturated polyester and acrylic monomers. Als o, the influences of the solvency of the reaction medium and the influence of concentration of unsaturated bonds of the polyesters in the reaction med ium were discussed to explain the low reactivity between the unsaturated bo nds and acrylic monomers. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 72: 1817-1825, 1999.