文摘
During the past two decades, an improved understanding of the operative particle deformation mechanisms during latex film formation has been gained. For a particular colloidal dispersion, the Routh鈥揜ussel deformation maps predict the dominant mechanism for particle deformation under a particular set of conditions (evaporation rate, temperature, and initial film thickness). Although qualitative tests of the Routh鈥揜ussel model have been reported previously, a systematic study of the relationship between the film-formation conditions and the resulting water concentration profiles is lacking. Here, the water distributions during the film formation of a series of acrylic copolymer latexes with varying glass-transition temperatures, Tg (values of 鈭?2, 鈭?1, 4, and 19 掳C), have been obtained using GARField nuclear magnetic resonance profiling. A significant reduction in the rate of water loss from the latex copolymer with the lowest Tg was found, which is explained by its relatively low polymer viscosity enabling the growth of a coalesced skin layer. The set of processing parameters where the drying first becomes impeded occurs at the boundary between the capillary deformation and the wet sintering regimes of the Routh鈥揜ussel model, which provides strong confirmation of the model鈥檚 validity. An inverse correlation between the model鈥檚 dimensionless control parameter and the dimensionless drying time is discovered, which is useful for the design of fast-drying waterborne films.
