High solid content latex: Preparation methods and application

One of the major challenges in emulsion polymerization over the past two decades was how to increase the solid content of latex products. In contrast to the conventional latex, high solid content (HSC) latex has a large volume fraction of dispersed phase, even larger than 70% in weight. Conventional emulsion polymerization, miniemulsion polymerization, self-emulsification polymerization and concentrated emulsion polymerization were all used to prepare HSC latexes, and many good results have been reported in recent years. Meanwhile, many applications of HSC latexes have also been developed. The present review summarized the progresses in the past few years mainly on the preparation methods and application of HSC latexes. Finally, some research directions as well as prospects were also proposed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.