Detection of coalescing agents in water-borne latex emulsions using an environment sensitive fluorescent probe

In this paper we report the determination of partitioning of coalescing agents (organic co-solvents) in water-borne latex emulsions by means of a fluorescence method. An environment-sensitive fluorescent probe 1 was copolymerized via emulsion polymerization. The presence of organic co-solvents inside the polymer particles is revealed by the photophysical properties of the probe. In particular, the position of the fluorescence emission maximum of co-polymerized 1 can be used to measure the amount of coalescing agent present in the polymer particles. The spectral shifts are shown to be due to the softening of the matrix, rather than to solvation of the probe by the added co-solvent.