Self-crosslinking vinyl acetate-ethylene latexes

Claim 1

An aqueous latex of a vinyl ester polymer having the property of forming self-curing films without the use of an extraneous curing additive which comprises water; from 1 to about 10 weight percent of an anionic or nonionic surfactant or mixture thereof and from 30 to about 65 weight percent of a polymer comprising: a major proportion of a vinyl acetate interpolymerized with the following comonomers: from 1 to about 30 weight percent ethylene, sufficient to effect a reduction in the film forming temperature of the polymer; from 0.5 to 5.0 weight percent of an acid curable cross-linking comonomer selected from the class of N-C1 to C10 alkylol acrylamide or methacrylamide or a formaldehyde condensate of the following: wherein: R and R''are hydrogen or C1 to about C6 alkyl; and R'''' is ethylene or C1 to C6 alkyl substituted ethylene; from 0.01 to 2.0 weight percent of a cross-linkable comonomer selected from the class consisting of the di esters of terminally unsaturated C2 to about C6 alkenols with ethylenically unsaturated C4 to C6 alkendioic acids, di- or tri- esters of said alkenols with cyanuric acid; and from 0.05 to about 2.0 weight percent of an acid catalyst comprising an ethylenically unsaturated, aliphatic, mono or di carboxylic acid having from three to about six carbons.