Preparation, stability and film properties of cationic polyacrylate latex particles with various substituents on the nitrogen atom

Cationic latexes have received wide attention due to their special properties and potential applications in wood coatings, fabric treatment, etc. However, the practical application of cationic latexes was hindered due to their poor stability, especially the alkali resistance stability. In this work, various stable cationic polyacrylate latexes were prepared by an efficient route. Three cationic comonomers, i.e., methacrylatoethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (DMC), 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), and 2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride (AEMH), were used in the aqueous semi-continuous seeded emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and butyl acrylate (BA) using cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and 2,2'-azobis[2(2-imidazolin-2-yl)propane] dihydrochloride (AIBI) as the cationic emulsifier and initiator, respectively. The alkali resistance of the latex could be significantly improved by the addition of cationic monomer DMC and be simply tuned by adjusting DMC dosage. The improved stability of the latex might originate from the higher charge density on the surface of the latex by the introduction of DMC. Moreover, the effects of initiator dosage, emulsifier dosage and different cationic comonomers on the latex preparation and the film properties were also systematically investigated. This work not only introduces an efficient route to prepare cationic latexes with superior stability, but also paves the way for latexes to be used in applications such as textile finishing, paper industry, and biomedical field, etc.