| Abstract: | Acrylic thermoplastic copolymers with different degrees of hydrophilicity were prepared and introduced into a commercial aqueous urea‐formaldehyde (UF) suspension at 5–10% w/v. The most hydrophilic acrylic thermoplastic was introduced into the UF suspension as an aqueous solution, whereas the most hydrophobic acrylic was introduced as a surfactant‐stabilized suspension. Acrylics with intermediate hydrophilicity were introduced into the UF suspension as a self‐dispersed aqueous suspension. The thermoplastic‐modified UF suspensions with 5% thermoplastic (58% solids) had a viscosity at 30°C of ～ 114 cP, compared with a viscosity of ～112 cP for the original UF suspension (60% UF solids). At 10% thermoplastic (63% solids), all the thermoplastic‐modified UF suspensions exceeded 200 cP. The viscosity of the UF suspension modified with self‐dispersed thermoplastic was reduced by ～ 50% by reducing the thermoplastic molecular weight. SEM micrographs of cured thermoplastic‐modified UF showed phase‐separated thermoplastic domains in a continuous UF phase for the UF modified with self‐dispersed and surfactant‐stabilized thermoplastic, but UF modified with the water‐soluble thermoplastic showed a single phase. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 87: 890–897, 2003 |
