FILM FORMATION OF LATTICES WITH CROSS-LINKED PARTICLES

The mechanical strength of latex films is caused by the diffusion of chain segments across particle boundaries and the formation of entanglements. This process should be hindered when the film is formed from crosslinked particles with an average network chain length M(c) smaller than the entanglement length M(e). This assumption is verified by tensile tests of films of polybutylmethacrylate latices with different degrees of crosslinking. In films of too highly crosslinked particles no mechanical strength is developed by annealing above the glass transition temperature.