Rheology of hydrophobic-alkali-soluble-emulsions (HASE) and the effects of surfactants

Steady and dynamic shear properties of two hydrophobically modified alkali soluble emulsions (HASE), NPJI and NPJ2, were experimentally investigated. At the same polymer concentration, NPJ1 is appreciably more viscous and elastic than NPJ2. The high hydrophobicity of NPJ1 allows hydrophobic associations and more junction sites to be created, leading to the formation of a network structure. Under shear deformation, NPJ1 exhibits shear-thinning behaviour as compared with Newtonian characteristics of NPJ2. NPJ1 and NPJ2 exhibit a very high and a low level of elasticity respectively over the frequency range tested. For NPJ1, a crossover frequency appears, which is shifted to lower frequencies and hence, longer relaxation times, as concentration increases. Three different surfactants anionic SDS, cationic CTAB, and non-ionic TX-100 were employed to examine the effects of surfactants on the rheology of HASE. Due to the different ionic behaviour of the surfactant, each type of surfactant imposed different electrostatic interactions on the two HASE polymers. In general, at low surfactant concentration, a gradual increase in viscosity is observed until a maximum is reached, beyond which a continuous reduction of viscosity ensues. Viscosity development is a combined result of HASE-surfactant interactions, accompanied by constant rearrangement of the hydrophobic associative junctions, and electrostatic interactions.