Polar functional non-aqueous acrylic dispersions

A polar non-aqueous dispersion comprising:

• (a) polar polymeric microparticles having one or more polar functional groups, wherein the one or more polar functional groups are selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl groups, carbonyl groups, ether groups, ester groups, amide groups, amino groups, halogenated hydrocarbon groups, nitrile groups, and combinations thereof, wherein the polar polymeric particles contain no carboxylic acid functionality;
• and
• (b) a polar non-aqueous medium;
• wherein:
• (i) the polar polymeric microparticles are insoluble in the polar non-aqueous medium;
• (ii) the polar polymeric microparticles are produced by dispersion polymerization of one or more vinyl monomers in the polar non-aqueous medium in the presence of a polymeric acrylic stabilizer, wherein:
• at least one vinyl monomer is a hydroxyalkyl ester of αβ-unsaturated carboxylic acids with primary or secondary hydroxyl groups;
• and
• the sum of the amount of vinyl monomers selected from the group consisting of, betacarboxyethylacrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, and acrylonitrile, and mixtures thereof is less than 50 wt %, based on the total weight of all the vinyl monomers;
• wherein no unsaturated carboxylic acids are included in the dispersion polymerization of one or more vinyl monomers.