Nonionic and Mixed Surfactant Systems

It should be noted that the probability for the continuous particle nucleation throughout the emulsion polymerization increases with increasing surfactant concentration. For constant monomer weight, the higher the surfactant concentration, the smaller the latex particles produced in the emulsion polymerization system. In addition, the longer the particle nucleation period, the broader the residence time distribution of particle nuclei within the reactor (i.e., the broader the resultant particle size distribution). These rules of thumb, based on a large number of fundamental studies on nucleation and growth of particle nuclei, have been widely used in industry to effectively use surfactant to stabilize various latex products with balanced performance properties. 

Mixed anionic and nonionic surfactant systems have been widely used in industry to manufacture latex products. Anionic surfactants can provide electrostatic repulsion force between two similarly charged electric double layers. By contrast, nonionic surfactants can impart two approaching latex particles 

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