Polyacrylate thickener and method for making same
AssigneePara-Chem Southern, Inc.
InventorsGary Allan Ungefug, Benjamin Marvin Wicker, James Richard Bible, Billy Thomas Worley, Jr.
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Abstract
An improved polyacrylate thickener and a method for making same are provided. The polyacrylate thickener is made using a monomer blend containing ethyl acrylate. In one embodiment the ethyl acrylate is polymerized and then hydrolyzed using a metal hydroxide. The resulting thickener contains unhydrolyzed polyacrylates, metal polyacrylates and ethanol. The final product, which is nontoxic and nonhazardous, can then be added to other compositions, such as textile coatings, as a viscosity enhancer.
Claims15
A method of preparing polyacrylate thickeners, said method comprising the steps of:
- polymerizing an acrylate ester monomer blend in an aqueous emulsion, said acrylate ester monomer blend comprising primarily ethyl acrylate, said ethyl acrylate being polymerized to form a poly (ethyl acrylate);
- and
- hydrolyzing at least a portion of said poly (ethyl acrylate) using a metal hydroxide, said poly (ethyl acrylate) being converted to a metal polyacrylate and ethyl alcohol.
A method of preparing polyacrylate thickeners, said method comprising the steps of:
- blending an acrylate ester monomer with a polymerization initiator in an aqueous emulsion, said acrylate ester monomer comprising primarily ethyl acrylate;
- heating said aqueous emulsion to a temperature sufficient to cause said acrylate ester monomer to polymerize, said temperature being maintained below the boiling point of said monomer, said ethyl acrylate being converted to a poly (ethyl acrylate);
- and
- combining said aqueous emulsion with a predetermined amount of a metal hydroxide sufficient to hydrolyze at least a portion of said poly (ethyl acrylate), said portion of said poly (ethyl acrylate) being converted to ethyl alcohol and a metal polyacrylate, said metal hydroxide being combined with said aqueous emulsion at a temperature sufficient to cause said poly (ethyl acrylate) to hydrolyze but at a temperature insufficient to vaporize said formed ethyl alcohol.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.