Spatiotemporal Structure Heterogeneity Evolution during Latex Film Formation Investigated by <italic style="font-style: italic">Operando</italic> Single-sided Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry

Xiao-Jie Chen; Ling-Han Shi; Jun Chen; Ling-Xun Qi; Yi-Zhen Yan; Zhong Zeng; Yi-Qun Yang; Zheng-Nan Yang; Jie Sun; Wei Chen

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3755-x

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Spatiotemporal Structure Heterogeneity Evolution during Latex Film Formation Investigated by Operando Single-sided Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-09-23

- Spatiotemporal Structure Heterogeneity Evolution during Latex Film Formation Investigated by Operando Single-sided Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 10, Pages: 3574-3585(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.School of Nuclear Science and Technology, National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Glass Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Anhui Provincial Engineering Research Center for Advanced Functional Polymer Films, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, China
  b.National Key Laboratory of Chemical Explosion Safety, Institute of Chemical Materials, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China
  c.BASF Advanced Chemicals Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200137, China
- Author bio：
  
  wc003@ustc.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3755-x
  CLC：
- Received：16 March 2026，
  
  Accepted：21 May 2026，
  
  Online First：22 August 2026，
  
  Published：05 October 2026
- Accepted：
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Chen, X. J.; Shi, L. H.; Chen, J.; Qi, L. X.; Yan, Y. Z.; Zeng, Z.; Yang, Y. Q.; Yang, Z. N.; Sun, J.; Chen, W. Spatiotemporal structure heterogeneity evolution during latex film formation investigated by Operando single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3574–3585

Xiao-Jie Chen, Ling-Han Shi, Jun Chen, et al. Spatiotemporal Structure Heterogeneity Evolution during Latex Film Formation Investigated by Operando Single-sided Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3574-3585. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3755-x.
Chen, X. J.; Shi, L. H.; Chen, J.; Qi, L. X.; Yan, Y. Z.; Zeng, Z.; Yang, Y. Q.; Yang, Z. N.; Sun, J.; Chen, W. Spatiotemporal structure heterogeneity evolution during latex film formation investigated by Operando single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3574–3585 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3755-x.

Xiao-Jie Chen, Ling-Han Shi, Jun Chen, et al. Spatiotemporal Structure Heterogeneity Evolution during Latex Film Formation Investigated by Operando Single-sided Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3574-3585. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3755-x. DOI：

摘要

This work employs a custom-built Operando single-sided NMR hyphenated instrument to track the spatiotemporal evolution of latex film formation

revealing how environmental factors drive the competition between capillary-driven fast water diffusion and the formation of a premature skin-core structure that inhibits particle coalescence.

Abstract

Understanding the film formation mechanism of waterborne latex is crucial for developing high-performance

eco-friendly coatings. However

the influence of various enviromental factors

i.e.

temperature and wind

on spatiotemporal structure heterogeneity induced during drying complicates the establishment of the structure-process-property of coating. Here

we track a polyacrylate latex film formation using a custom-built single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) hyphenated instrument. Two-dimensional correlation spectra reveal highly restricted water dynamics within the latex suspension

evidenced by a decreased self-diffusion coefficient

from 2.00×10

–9

/s of pure water to 1.39×10

–9

/s in suspension with a plummeted

of 30

which is about 111 for pure water. For film drying under mild conditon (24 °C without

airflow)

dense particle packing induces strong capillary forces

generating anomalous fast-diffusion channels (

up to 31.05×10

–9

/s) to accelerate water evaporation resulting in homogeneous structure along the thickness direction. Conversely

after introducing airflow

i.e.

35 °C with 10 L/min airflow

the accelerated drying rate (3.72 μm/min) drastically amplifies the spatiotemporal heterogeneity and triggers premature surface skinning. Such skin-core structure traps residual water inside and inhibit further coalescing of latex particles. The uncoalesced bottom layer thicknesses quantitatively predicted by non-destructive single-sided NMR (about 100

200

and 400 μm)

which is well consistent with SEM measurements (93

240

and 409 μm

respectively). This work provides direct physical insights and theoretical guidance for the formulation and application of waterborne coatings during real service condition.

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⁰

Spatiotemporal Structure Heterogeneity Evolution during Latex Film Formation Investigated by Operando Single-sided Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry

DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3755-x

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references