Competitive Absorption of Polar and Non-Polar Liquids into Latex Bound Porous Structures of Fine Ground Calcium Carbonate

Fine calcium carbonate is frequently used as coating pigment, e.g. in paints, paper and board. Emulsion polymer latex provides a typical binder incorporated in such coatings. Exposure of the resulting porous structure to liquid, depending on latex concentration level, results in ab- and adsorption as the liquid is drawn into the structure by capillarity and the nature of the relative surface chemistry of the pores. Previous work has shown that typical coating structures act to separate oil components according to their surface energy characteristics and solubility index in respect to pigment surface and intra-latex diffusion. This study considers water and alkane (hexadecane) as model liquids. Absorption rate into compressed tablets of ground calcium carbonate is observed with and without the presence of latex. Polyacrylate dispersant used in manufacture renders the pigment surface both hydrophilic and hygroscopic and, therefore, controls the differential dynamic wetting characteristics of the porous structure for either polar or non-polar liquid. In competition with hexadecane saturating the pore structure of a latex-free sample, polar water is seen to displace the non-polar liquid instantaneously, causing disintegration of the packed porous structure. In the presence of latex binder, however, the structurally destructive pressure this creates is contained, and retardation of the polar water is observed. The required pre-wetting action of water vapour diffusion on the polyacrylate pigment surface is considered to be an integral part of the successful competition between oil and water in the offset printing process, as non-polar oil absorbs steadily into a water pre-saturated structure.