High solids content emulsions. I. A study of the influence of the particle size distribution and polymer concentration on viscosity

Abstract An experimental and modeling study was carried out to understand the relationship between the viscosity of a multimodal latex and its particle‐size distribution (PSD) and polymer concentration. This study illustrates the inadequacy of existing models in predicting the viscosity of complex latices. It is shown that the latex viscosity at a fixed shear rate is very sensitive to the polymer concentration at high solids content and to the PSD. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 1878–1896, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10511