Polymer agglomeration has a good application prospect
in enlarging
the particle size of polybutadiene latex (PBL), which has attracted
considerable attention in the field of agglomeration. However, the
agglomeration process of PBL under different agglomeration conditions
has not been studied. In this study, a coaxial cylindrical viscometer
was used to perform agglomeration experiments. The different stages
of PBL agglomeration can be determined by observing the viscosity
changes, because the particle size of nanoparticles in the emulsion
is an important factor affecting its viscosity. In this communication,
the effects of the content of agglomerating agent, agglomeration temperature,
and shear rate on the agglomeration process and particle size of PBL
were studied. It was found that with the increase of the content of
agglomerating agent, the time required to reach the adsorption saturation
and complete the entire agglomeration of PBL decreased. When the content
of the agglomerating agent was 4%, the agglomerated PBL showed a bimodal
distribution. Then, the mean particle size of agglomerated PBL decreased
with the increase of the content of the agglomerating agent. However,
when the content of the agglomerating agent exceeded 20%, the mean
particle size of agglomerated PBL did not change and remained stable
at about 255 nm. Temperature has no obvious effect on the agglomeration
process of PBL with 4% agglomerating agent content but can significantly
reduce the agglomeration time with 16% and 24% agglomerating agent
content. The effect of the shear rate on the agglomeration process
of PBL with 4% agglomerating agent content is not obvious. With the
increase of the shear rate, the time required for PBL to complete
the agglomeration decreased for the systems with 12% and 24% agglomerating
agents. In addition, the particle size of agglomerated PBL can be
significantly reduced with the increase of shear rate when the content
of the agglomerating agent is 12%. This study not only provides a
new perspective for the study of the agglomeration process of PBL
but also helps to precisely control the agglomeration conditions of
PBL and improve the agglomeration efficiency.