Modeling the Effects of Styrene-Butadiene-Acrylonitrile Copolymer Latex on Printing Properties of Coated Woodfree Papers, 1998 Coating Conference Proceedings

Latex properties have a significant effect on the printing properties of coated papers. In this work, response surface designs were created to predict the impact of acrylonitrile level, butadiene level, particle size and degree of crosslinking (gel content) on the ink tack-build and ink transfer characteristics of coated paper. Latices were synthesized according to the response surface design and each latex was evaluated in a starch-cobound binder system. The test data were analyzed with a statistical software program to generate the response surfaces for the printing characteristics. The resulting models can be used to predict the combination of latex parameters that provide the best printing performance for laboratory coated papers. The addition of acrylonitrile (ACN) to styrene-butadiene latex reduced P&I slope, increased the number of passes to fail and increased printed gloss, but did not improve paper gloss. A more complex model will need to be developed to account for differences in coat weight, calendering and pigment variables.