Shelf Stability of Isocyanate‐Functionalized Vinyl Acrylic Latexes

Abstract

Copolymerization of vinyl acetate (VA) with butyl acrylate (BA) and dimethyl meta‐isopropenyl benzyl isocyanate (TMI) was carried out at 40 °C in emulsions stabilized with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS). Regardless of the type of surfactant employed, latexes were very unstable during storage. Moreover, the hydrolysis of TMI and undesirable premature crosslinking of the polymeric chains did occur at room temperature during latexes storage.

“Clickable” polymers via a combination of RAFT polymerization and isocyanate chemistry

“…There have been numerous reports of the use of RAFT in conjunction with click chemistry as a route towards surface modification16–24 and while the azide‐alkyne click reaction has been the most employed click reaction by far, several groups have recently been studying isocyanate‐bearing moieties as ideal candidates for click reactions due to their ability to react quantitatively with alcohols, thiols, and amines under mild reaction conditions 14, 25–30. In these reactions, the isocyanate functionality is incorporated into the polymeric backbone either by homopolymerizing an isocyanate‐bearing monomer, or by copolymerizing it along with another monomer 14, 25, 28–38. Two commonly used monomers in radical polymerization are dimethyl meta‐isopropenyl benzyl isocyanate (TMI) and 2‐isocyanatoethyl methacrylate (ICEMA), shown in Figure 1.…”