Drying and film formation’s first steps in polymer dispersions – Insights from a parallel gravimetric experiment and profile NMR study

• Sample cell concept for multimethod experiments on drying and film formation.
• Combination of profile NMR and gravimetric results from parallel experiments.
• Identification of critical water content with strong slowdown of particle rotation as early step of film formation.

Understanding the microscopic mechanisms of film formation in polymer dispersions is a complex analytical and physical challenge. In this contribution, we present results from parallel gravimetric and NMR profiling experiments along with a semiempiric model approach to establish a systematic relation between both data sets. As a result of the semiempiric model, a critical water content at which rotation dynamics of the polymer particles changes can be determined. Furthermore, it is shown that the addition of film-forming agents to the dispersion shifts the critical water content to higher values.

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