Visible light emission to probe inter-particle diffusion in latex films

涂料的主要用途是用连续的聚合物薄膜保护基材。聚合物薄膜通常是通过将水性乳胶溶液涂在基材上而获得的。当水蒸发时，乳胶颗粒接触，使得聚合物链从一个乳胶颗粒扩散到另一个乳胶颗粒，直到形成均匀连续的聚合物薄膜。乳胶颗粒之间链的扩散受到许多参数的影响，例如用于制备乳胶的聚合物类型、溶剂、分散剂和/或聚合物组合物。一种能够提供薄膜形成直接测量的技术对于配方化学家来说是非常有价值的，它可以直接关联用于设计用于生成薄膜或增强颗粒间扩散的乳胶颗粒的变量。对于应用化学家来说，直接测量薄膜形成将有助于选择配方添加剂，从而优化薄膜性能。

The primary purpose of paints is to protect a substrate with a continuous polymer film. The polymer film is typically obtained by applying a waterborne latex solution onto the substrate. As the water evaporates, the latex particles come into contact allowing for polymer chains to diffuse from one latex particle to another, until a homogeneous and continuous polymer film is being generated. The diffusion of chains between latex particles is influenced by a number of parameters such as the type of polymer, the solvent, dispersants, and/or polymer composition used to prepare the latex. A technique capable of providing a direct measure of film formation would be extremely valuable to the formulation chemist to directly correlate the variables used to design the latex particles used to generate a film or enhance inter-particle diffusion. For the application's chemist, a direct measure of film formation would help the selection of formulation additives that would optimize film properties.