Introduction
Since Mr. WACKER developed the first generation of Vinyl Acetate Ethylene dispersible powder in 1957, LANDU has expanded the scope of the latex powder variety to cover Pure Acrylic Series redispersible latex powder on top of VINNAPAS powder. As two common additives in adhesive and grout, VINNAPAS VAE Powder and ACCURATE™ Acrylic Latex Powder mark some notable differences. This article aims to help you better understand these differences and make an informed decision on which to use.
What Is Redispersible Latex Powder?
Redispersible Latex Powder is a polymer powder obtained by spray drying of a polymer emulsion. As two types of this polymer, VINNAPAS VAE Powder and ACCURATE™ Acrylic Latex Powder can turn back into the emulsion once mixed with water in a certain proportion without sacrificing or changing the properties of the original emulsion. Redispersible latex powder is widely used in building materials as an additive to improve adhesion, impermeability, and flexibility.
Differences Between VINNAPAS VAE Powder and ACCURATE™ Acrylic Latex Powder
Resistance to Water
Due to a large number of hydrophilic groups soluble in water, which is the reason why the latex powder could form a liquid adhesive with water, VAE(Vinyl Acetate Ethylene) Latex powder fails in waterproof performance. The overall performance of VAE latex powder, including durability and adhesion, is gradually reduced if exposed to the outdoors, suffering from rain or moisture. In practice, we could see that the insulation bonding and plastering mortar based on VAE latex powder exhibits poor water resistance in the short term. The cement gets resistant to water only after completely curing.
Compared with VINNAPAS VAE latex powder, ACCURATE™ Acrylic latex powder particles are designed with a soft core and hard shell by using the core-shell emulsion polymerization technology. This specific design could significantly improve the hydrophobicity of acrylic latex powder. Here is a test result demonstrating how ACCURATE™ Acrylic latex powder excels in water-repellent performance in an exterior wall insulation system.
| Item | Acrylic Latex Powder | VAE Latex Powder | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original Bond Strength With Concrete Panels / MPa | 1.30 | 1.33 | ≥0.60 |
| Bond Strength With Concrete Panels Under Moisture / MPa | 1.21 | 1.15 | ≥0.40 |
| Original Bond Strength With EPS Board / MPa | 0.17(＞95%) | 0.17(＞95%) | ≥0.10 or EPS Board Destroyed |
| Bond Strength With EPS Board Under Moisture / MPa | 0.14(＞85%) | 0.13(＞70%) | ≥0.10 or EPS Board Destroyed |
| Workable Time / h | 2.0 - 4.0 | 2.0 - 4.0 | 1.5 - 4.0 |
*The data in brackets represents the percentage of the damaged area of the EPS board.
Flexibility under Low Temperature
The VINNAPAS VAE Powder fails to be flexible at low temperatures. When the temperature drops below 0℃, VAE latex powder becomes brittle, indicating it doesn’t bring any cracking resistance. Cold areas, such as Russia, are suffering from cracking problems in thermal insulation projects, not to mention the quality issues caused by insufficient VAE amount as a raw material.
In terms of this problem, the special structure of ACCURATE™ Acrylic Latex Powder particles could form a film at low temperatures while maintaining a low MFFT(minimum film forming temperature). Specifically, the higher TG(glass transition temperature) of the outer layer of acrylic powder particles prevents them from sticking to each other during the spray drying process, while the lower TG of the inner layer helps the latex powder to form a film, leading to better flexibility in a cold environment.
LANDU did an experiment to test the performance of tile adhesive formulas added with VINNAPAS VAE Powder and ACCURATE™ Acrylic Latex Powder. The figure shows a comparison of how much tensile strength is reduced after freeze-thaw cycles.
How To Choose Between VINNAPAS VAE Powder and ACCURATE™ Acrylic Latex Powder?
You may make a decision based on project requirements and budget, or contact the LANDU expert team for professional suggestions. Our sales managers and chemists offer optimal solutions and formulations fully combined with your local situations, along with detailed test reports or even guiding videos.
Applicable Scene
ACCURATE™ Acrylic systems latex powder is mainly used in dry-mix systems demanding water resistance, adhesion, plasticity, flexibility, bending strength, etc. VINNAPAS VAE-based products are more suitable for residential buildings and home decoration to improve the cohesion and bonding strength of cement– and gypsum-based mortar.
Cost
From the perspective of the production process, ACCURATE™ acrylic redispersible latex powder introduces more steps, including emulsion preparation, colloidal protection, and spray drying, while VINNAPAS VAE-based latex powder only involves the copolymerization reaction as well as the subsequent preparation and stabilization. The complex production and expensive raw materials of acrylic redispersible latex powder lead to a higher cost than the VAE type. However, considering the cost of maintenance and repairs, it is necessary to balance performance and economics, especially in projects facing more challenging factors, such as rain and low temperatures.
Konklusjon
Many experimental results and data prove that the monomer used for emulsion polymerization determines how the product performs in applications. In the early days, the polymeric monomer used for producing redispersible latex powder was mainly vinyl acetate. However, this thermoplastic resin features a low softening point and water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol as an emulsifier and protective colloid during polymerization, leading to relatively poor flexibility in cold weather and resistance to water.
In contrast, ACCURATE™ Acrylic Latex powder shows great hydrophobicity and flexibility in not-so-good environments and thus is widely used in building materials. That’s why LANDU, an outstanding manufacturer of Redispersible Latex Powder, made efforts to develop innovative acrylic dispersible latex powder while retaining the basic properties of acrylic emulsions. You are always welcome to send a message for further information and guidance, as well as free samples and formulations.
Kontakt oss og få gratis vareprøver
Ta kontakt med meg for å få det siste tilbudet eller for å be om en prøvetest (prøvene våre er gratis og inkluderer frakt).
