Surface active agents are used as process aids in the production of polymers, as additives to modify polymer properties, and in the formulation and further processing of polymeric systems for a variety of applications. In all these uses, surfactants are employed as “effect” chemicals; i.e., they impart specific performance characteristics or properties to the base polymer or enhance its performance when formulated for a specific end use. This volume (the first in a new Applied Surfactant Series) focuses on those areas which currently are of greatest industrial and commercial interest.

From the Preface: “...Surfactants are used extensively in the production of water-based emulsion polymers. The surfactants act as emulsifiers to facilitate the reaction between monomers and free radical initiators in different phases, but they also stabilise the latex particles as they are formed. The finished polymer emulsions are used in applications such as paints, inks, adhesives and textile coatings, and in non-wovens. In many of these end uses, residual surfactants may detract from the properties of the product concerned, e.g., poorer scrub resistance in an emulsion paint. Recent work has focused on the development of emulsifiers which themselves copolymerise into the polymer backbone as the emulsion polymer reaction progresses. These are the so-called `surfmers.'...”

Target Audience: Surfactants developers and technologists, as well as formulators and researchers using surfactants in coatings, inks, adhesives, and polymers.

Table of Contents:

Surfactants and Emulsion Polymerisation: An Industrial Perspective

The Role of Emulsifiers in the Kinetics and Mechanisms of Emulsion Polymerization

Polymerisable Surfactants (Surfmers) for Emulsion Polymerisation Production

Uses of Anti-Foaming Agents in Paints and Surface Coatings

Applications of Oligomeric Surfactants in Polymer Systems

Applications of Surfactants in Paints

Surfactant—Waterborne Polymer Interactions in Coating Applications

Surfactants in Ink-Jet Inks

Process Aids and Additives for Latexes and Thermoplastics

The Role of Surfactants in Phosphate Conversion Coatings

Index