The effect of styrene–butadiene latex carboxylation on adhesion

Abstract Styrene–butadiene latices are widely used as binders in pigmented coatings for the paper and board industry. White pitch deposition, which is one type of surface fouling, is a well-known problem at paper machines using coated broke as a raw material. The main component of white pitch is latex, such as styrene–butadiene. The viscoelastic properties of styrene–butadiene latex have been found to affect on white pitch formation, but the effect of carboxylation has not been studied extensively. Carboxylation has traditionally performed to latices in order to increase colloidal stability, but it has also effect on mechanical properties of the latices. In this paper, we studied the adhesion potential of three styrene–butadiene latices by using a cylindrical probe tack method under dry and aqueous conditions while varying the carboxylation degree of the latex. Adhesion potential was measured using low and high energy surfaces as adherents. The results show that carboxylation influences adhesion potential of latices in both dry and aqueous environments.