Membrane-assisted volatile organic compound removal from aqueous acrylic latex is faster than from aqueous solutions

Solutes such as butyl ether and acetone, which cause unpleasant smells in latex paint, can be stripped from aqueous solutions using a porous membrane. The different mass transfer coefficients in this stripping are dominated by diffusion in the aqueous solution, and behave as expected from boundary layer theory. These solutes can also be stripped without foaming from latex paints whose viscosities are 20-50 times higher than those of aqueous solutions. For the more hydrophobic solutes such as butyl ether, the mass transfer coefficients in latex are smaller than those in water, as expected from theory. For more hydrophilic solutes such as ethanol, the mass transfer coefficients can be as much as 4 times larger. This unexpected result, inconsistent with conventional theory, may result from latex particles serving as a source and can be described by coupled diffusion and desorption.