Effect of shell growth on the morphology of polyvinyl acetate/polystyrene inverted core-shell latex fabricated by acrylonitrile grafting

A novel strategy for fabricating inverted core-shell structured latex particles was implemented to investigate the morphology and properties of polyvinyl acetate (PVAc)-based latex. In this study, active grafting points were synthesized onto the surface of PVAc latex cores via grafting acrylonitrile (AN) to obtain a controllable coating growth of the shell monomer, styrene (St). The effect of shell growth on the morphological evolvement was explored by tuning the time of shell monomer polymerization. Unique particle morphologies, transferring from "hawthorn" type, over "peeled pomegranate" type, to final "strawberry-like" type, were observed and verified by electron microscopy. The morphological structure of latex particles exerted a significant effect on the particle size, phase structure, and mechanical properties of the obtained emulsions. The water-resistance of PVAc-based latex was also evaluated by the water absorption of latex films. More importantly, the experimental results provided a reasonable support for the controlled growth of St monomer, that is, the self-nucleation of dispersive St monomer can be transformed to in-situ coating growth on the PVAc core surface depending on the AN-active grafting points. This fabricating approach provides a reference for dynamical design and control of the latex particle morphology. ; Peer reviewed