Fluorescence study of film formation from hard/ soft latex blends

Abstract

The effects of blend composition on film formation is studied using the SSF and UV-visible (UVV) techniques. Latex blend films were prepared from mixtures of two types of particles in dispersion, one composed of a high-T g (hard) pyrene (P) labeled polystyrene (PS) latex; the other a low-Tg (soft) poly(n-butyl acrylate) (BuA1). Twelve different blend films were prepared in various hard/soft latex compositions at room temperature and annealed at elevated temperatures above glass transition temperature (T g) of polystyerene for 10 min. Fluorescence intensity (I P) from P was measured after each annealing step to monitor the stages of film formation. The evolution of transparency of latex films was monitored using photon transmission intensity, Itr. Film morphologies were examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that as the amount of hard component in the blend is decreased, a significant change occured in both IP and Itr curves at a certain critical weight fraction (50%wt) of PS hard latex. Above this fraction two distinct film formation stages, which are named as void closure and interdiffusion were seen in fluorescence data. However, below 50%wt PS no film formation stages were observed. Below this fraction, Itr data showed that phase separation process occurs between PS and BuA1 polymers. These results were also confirmed by AFM pictures. Film formation stages for 50-100%wt range of PS were modeled and related activation energies were calculated. There was no observable change in activation energies confirming that film formation behavior is not affected by varying the blend composition.