Synthesis and properties of hydrophobically modified water-borne polymers for pigment stabilization

Some aspects of the molecular design of pigment stabilizers are discussed. The approach of employing copolymers with pigment-affine segments and matrix-affine segments will be particularly addressed. First experimental results obtained with amphiphilic block copolymers and amphiphilic graft copolymers with similar overall composition with regard to polar and relatively non-polar blocks of, e.g. polar backbone and relatively non-polar grafts will be presented. The comparison between the poly(acrylic acid)-polystyrene block copolymer and the graft copolymer with poly(acrylic acid) backbone and polystyrene grafts showed a similar stabilization of TiO2 in water. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.