One of the main requirements for protective coatings is the ability to confer water resistance to painted substrates. Since the binder is a major part of most coatings, ongoing research in emulsion polymer design is aimed at providing more effective barrier properties by increasing the hydrophobic nature of the polymers produced. That, in turn, requires a means for effectively and efficiently polymerizing hydrophobic monomers.
Attempts to make polymers of very hydrophobic monomers, such as those of long-chain acrylics or of vinyl branched esters that have carbon chain longer than C8, using common sulfonate surfactants have failed because of massive coagulation and/or very low conversion.1,2