Adhesion enhancement in waterborne acrylic latex binders synthesized with phosphate methacrylate monomers

The effect of the addition of a phosphoric acid group containing monomer on polymerization kinetics, copolymer microstructure and end-use properties of a latex prepared by seeded emulsion polymerization of MMA/BA/MAA/AAEMA/SIPOMER PAM100 was studied. It was found that despite of the surface activity of the phosphated monomer, the polymerization kinetics was not affected. Gel content increased with the concentration of phosphate monomer due mainly to the presence of divinyl ester phospate impurities. Gel improved the chemical resistance of the latex films. However, the most affected property was adhesion. Increasing amounts of the phosphated monomer led to a strong enhancement of the adhesion due to chemical interactions established with the metal surface. It was also found that the feeding strategy of the phosphated monomer played an important role in the adhesion enhancement. Latexes synthesized using a delayed addition of the phosphate monomer showed better performance than latexes prepared following a conventional addition strategy. The latexes synthesized during the investigation were evaluated as binders in a primer formulation. A primer with good adhesive and corrosion resistance properties was achieved using a 5 wt.% of the phosphated monomer.