An acrylic rubber including: a polymer composition of: 70 to 99.9% by weight of a bonding unit derived from at least one (meth) acrylic acid ester selected from (meth) acrylic acid alkyl ester and (meth) acrylic acid alkoxyalkyl ester; 0.1 to 10% by weight of a bonding unit derived from a monomer containing a reactive group; and 0 to 20% by weight of a bonding unit derived from other monomer, wherein ash content is 0.15% by weight or less, total amount of sodium and sulfur in the ash is 60% by weight or more, a ratio of sodium to sulfur by weight ratio is in the range of 0.5 to 2.5, ratio of Z-average molecular weight to weight average molecular weight is 1.3 or more, and weight average molecular weight is in the range of 1,000,000 to 5,000,000.

An acrylic rubber including: a polymer composition of: 70 to 99.9% by weight of a bonding unit derived from at least one (meth) acrylic acid ester selected from (meth) acrylic acid alkyl ester and (meth) acrylic acid alkoxyalkyl ester; 0.1 to 10% by weight of a bonding unit derived from a monomer containing a reactive group; and 0 to 20% by weight of a bonding unit derived from other monomer, wherein ash content is 0.15% by weight or less, total amount of sodium and sulfur in the ash is 60% by weight or more, a ratio of sodium to sulfur by weight ratio is in the range of 0.5 to 2.5, ratio of Z-average molecular weight to weight average molecular weight is 1.3 or more, and weight average molecular weight is in the range of 1,000,000 to 5,000,000.

Methods for forming latexes are provided. In embodiments, such a method comprises adding a first portion of a monomer emulsion comprising water, a monomer, an acidic monomer, a multifunctional monomer, and a first reactive surfactant to a reactive surfactant solution comprising water and a second reactive surfactant to form a reaction mixture, wherein the reactive surfactant solution does not comprise monomers other than the second reactive surfactant; adding a first portion of an initiator solution to the reaction mixture so that monomers undergo polymerization reactions to form resin seeds in the reaction mixture; adding a second portion of the monomer emulsion to the reaction mixture comprising the resin seeds; and adding a second portion of the initiator solution to the reaction mixture to form a latex comprising resin particles.

Methods for forming latexes are provided. In embodiments, such a method comprises adding a first portion of a monomer emulsion comprising water, a monomer, an acidic monomer, a multifunctional monomer, and a first reactive surfactant to a reactive surfactant solution comprising water and a second reactive surfactant to form a reaction mixture, wherein the reactive surfactant solution does not comprise monomers other than the second reactive surfactant; adding a first portion of an initiator solution to the reaction mixture so that monomers undergo polymerization reactions to form resin seeds in the reaction mixture; adding a second portion of the monomer emulsion to the reaction mixture comprising the resin seeds; and adding a second portion of the initiator solution to the reaction mixture to form a latex comprising resin particles.

A method for producing a modified polytetrafluoroethylene, the method including: polymerizing tetrafluoroethylene in an aqueous medium in which a polymer having units based on a fluorine-free monomer is present. The fluorine-free monomer is a monomer represented by formula (1): CH.sub.2═CR.sup.1-L-R.sup.2, where R.sup.1 is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, L is a single bond, —CO—O—*, —O—CO—* or —O—, * is a bonding position to R.sup.2, and R.sup.2 is an alkyl group. To the total amount of tetrafluoroethylene supplied to the polymerization, a proportion of the polymer is from 0.001 to 0.050 mass %.

Provided is a surfactant composition that can impart good polymerization stability, that can yield an aqueous resin dispersion having good wettability, and that can improve water resistance and water-resistant adhesive strength of a resin film formed from the aqueous resin dispersion. The surfactant composition according to the present invention includes a compound C1 represented by formula (1):

##STR00001##

(in formula (1), A.sup.1 represents an alkylene group having 10 to 14 carbon atoms, A.sup.2 represents an alkylene group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms, n is an average number of moles of an oxyalkylene group A.sup.2O added and is a number of 1 to 100, and X represents a hydrogen atom, a sulfate ester or a salt thereof, a phosphate ester or a salt thereof, or methylcarboxylic acid or a salt thereof); and a compound C2 represented by formula (2):

##STR00002##

(in formula (2), A.sup.1, A.sup.2, n, and X are as defined in formula (1)). A molar ratio C1/C2 of the compound C1 to the compound C2 is 99/1 to 84/16.

A burst-resistant, dispersible nano-encapsulated phase-change material includes at least one phase change core material and a shell. The shell includes the reaction product of a plurality of non-phase change materials comprising at least one monomer, an initiator, a crosslinker and at least one surfactant. The shell surrounds at least one phase change core material and is formed by low-energy emulsification followed by polymerization of a mixture of the phase change core material and the plurality of non-phase change materials in water. The mass ratio between at least one phase change core material and the plurality of non-phase change materials is 5-15:10. The nano-encapsulated phase-change material after said low-energy emulsification and polymerization has a particle size ranging between 50 and 500 nm and a heat of fusion of 60 J/g or greater.

The present invention is a composition comprising an aqueous dispersion of copolymer particles comprising structural units of a) an acrylate monomer; b) an acid monomer; and c) a siloxane-acrylate monomer of formula I:

##STR00001##

where R, R.sup.1, R.sup.2, Y and x are defined herein. The composition, which also comprises a nonionic and anionic surfactant as described herein, is useful in a variety of applications ranging from architectural coatings to personal care products.

The present invention is a composition comprising an aqueous dispersion of copolymer particles comprising structural units of a) an acrylate monomer; b) an acid monomer; and c) a siloxane-acrylate monomer of formula I:

##STR00001##

where R, R.sup.1, R.sup.2, Y and x are defined herein. The composition, which also comprises a nonionic and anionic surfactant as described herein, is useful in a variety of applications ranging from architectural coatings to personal care products.

A hydrophilic silicone particle containing a surfactant fixed by a chemical bond formed by radical polymerization to a surface of a silicone particle having a volume average particle size of 0.1 to 100 μm and a method for producing the hydrophilic silicone particle, the method including fixing a hydrophilic group derived from a component (B) to a surface of a silicone particle by subjecting an emulsion to radical polymerization, the emulsion containing: (A) 100 parts by mass of an organopolysiloxane having a radical polymerization reactive group; (B) 0.5 to 50 parts by mass of a surfactant having a radical polymerization reactive group; (C) 0.1 to 5 parts by mass of a radical generator; and (D) 10 to 1000 parts by mass of water. A silicone particle may be readily dispersed in an aqueous material without the additional use of a dispersant (typically, a surfactant) and has a hydrophilic group.