Properties of powdered associative alkali-swellable acrylics thickeners synthesized by precipitation polymerization

Powdered alkali-swellable acrylics thickener (ASAT) was synthesized by precipitation polymerization with acrylic acid (AA) and stearyl acrylate (SA) as monomer, allyl sucrose ether (ASE) as crosslink agent and lauroyl peroxide (LPO) as initiator in the solvent of ethyl acetate. The powders were normal distribution in the range 1–80 μm and showed sensitive to pH in water. Before pH 7, both of the viscosity and the light transmittance of the APAT emulsion increased with enhancing pH value. ASE and SA played an important role in the properties of ASAT. When the amount of ASE was increased, the crosslink degree in the ASAT molecule increased. As the result, the viscosity of its emulsion increased firstly and then decreased, but the light transmittance of the emulsion decreased monotonously. Introduction of SA led to formation of an associative ASAT. Therefore, both of the viscosity and light transmittance of ASAT emulsion increased firstly and then decrease with increasing the amount of SA. Meanwhile, the associative ASAT emulsion showed shear thinning behavior, good salt tolerate, and less sensitivity to temperature. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40512.