Surface dilational moduli of latex-particle monolayers spread at air–water interface

Latex particles prepared by radical dispersion polymerization of styrene and diacetone acrylamide (DAAM) in the presence of potassium persulfate as an initiator were spread as particle monolayers at the air–water interface. The surface pressure isotherms of the latex-particle monolayers are almost reversible during the compression–expansion cycles. The surface dilational moduli of the latex-particle monolayers at a fixed surface pressure of 20 mN/m and a fixed frequency of 10 mHz are almost independent of the strain. Moreover, at a fixed strain of 10% and fixed surface pressures of 10 or 15 mN/m the surface dilational moduli of the latex particle monolayers were measured as a function of frequency. The Lissajous orbits of the latex-particle monolayers exhibit positive hysteresis loops for all surface pressure ranges examined. The crossover between the magnitude of the surface elastic modulus and the magnitude of the surface viscous modulus occurs between the frequencies of 10 and 12 mHz and beyond the frequency of 12 mHz the former is larger than the latter. Such crossover indicates that the strain response of the latex-particle monolayers behave changes from liquid-like viscoelastic behavior to solid-like behavior with increasing frequency.

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► Latex particles were prepared by radical dispersion polymerization of styrene and diacetone acrylamide.
► Surface dilational moduli were measured for the latex particles spread at the air–water interface.
► The latex particles behaved from liquid-like to solid-like viscoelasticity with increasing the frequency.