Process of making substantially external surfactant-free vinyl polymer emulsion products

Claim 1

A process of preparing a substantially external surfactant--free polymer emulsion product which comprises the steps of: (a) dispersing in water an amine or inorganic base neutralized saturated polymer, said polymer being derived from a first monomer mixture consisting essentially of from about 2 to about 100 percent by weight of a carboxylic acid or anhydride having ethylenic unsaturation and the balance, if any, of at least one other copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomer wherein said monomer is alkyl acrylate or alkyl methacrylate containing from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, hydroxyalkyl acrylate or methacrylate containing from 2 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl moiety, styrenes, acrylamides, methacrylamides or a mixture thereof; (b) adding a second monomer mixture of vinyl monomer and a polymerization catalyst to the dispersion of step (a), said vinyl monomer being vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, or a mixture thereof, and a proportion of the second monomer mixture added being such as to consist essentially of from about 25 percent to about 75 percent by weight of the total weight of the monomers used in forming the polymer emulsion product; and (c) polymerizing the mixture of step (b) to form the polymer emulsion product.