Thickeners swellable acrylic emulsion

Rheology results are shown in Figure 5 for combination of dispersants with a commercially available HASE (hydrophobically modified alkali swellable acrylic emulsion) thickener. 

HASE (hydrophobically modified alkali-swellable emulsion, discussed in Chapters 25 and 28) and HEUR thickeners are readily displaced from acrylic latex surfaces (32) by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). A surface-active cellulose ether was also reported (33) to desorb from monodispersed poly(styrene) latices with SDS addition. In these studies, the relative critical micelle concentrations of the anionic surfactant and thickener appear to be more important than buffering of surface charges. 

Acrylic thickeners, also known as alkali-swellable emulsions, are used to a limited extent in cheap interior wall paints. They are acids containing acrylic copolymers supplied in liquid form as an emulsion. The main limitation of these thickeners is that the thickening action is a function of the pH of the paint system and therefore the viscosity varies with pH of the system. 

Associative acrylic thickeners are also known as hydrophobically modified alkali-swellable emulsions (EASE). Chemically, they are copolymers composed of three blocks ... 

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