A comparative study on water-based coatings prepared in the presence of oligomeric and conventional protective colloids

► Poly(vinyl acetate-co-butyl acrylate) latexes were prepared by semi-continuous emulsion polymerization. ► Oligomeric N-methylol acrylamide was used as a new reactive protective colloid. ► It compared with poly(vinyl alcohol) which is conventional protective colloid. ► The latexes obtained with oligomeric N-methylol acrylamide showed a better stability and film forming behavior. Poly(vinyl acetate-co-butyl acrylate) latexes were prepared by using semi-continuous emulsion polymerization method in presence of two different protective colloids which were oligomeric N-methylol acrylamide and conventional poly(vinyl alcohol). The effects of these protective colloids on colloidal, surface and film properties of latexes were examined. Poly(vinyl acetate-co-butyl acrylate) synthesized with oligomeric N-methylol acrylamide, which was characterized by FT-IR, NMR and MALDI-TOF MS, was found to have lower viscosity, finer particle size, better latex stability, lower polydispersity, higher T g and better film forming behavior compared to those synthesized from the poly(vinyl alcohol).