Patent ID: 6875802

Claim:
A process for preparing an aqueous dispersion of polymer particles comprising a polymeric composition having non-gelled polymer chains, said process comprising the steps of: a) preparing an aqueous emulsion of hydrophobic monomer droplets, said droplets comprising: i) at least one C 8 to C 30 alkyl (meth)acrylate monomer, ii) at least one chain branching monomer, said chain branching monomer present in an amount not greater than 0.10 weight percent based on total weight of the C 8 to C 30 alkyl (meth)acrylate monomer, iii) at least one monomer transport aid, and (iv) at least one emulsifier; and b) polymerizing, by at least one technique selected from the group consisting of conventional emulsion polymerization bulk polymerization and solution polymerization, said C 8 to C 30 alkyl (meth)acrylate monomer with said at least one chain branching monomer using at least one free radical initiator to form said aqueous dispersion of polymer particles comprising a polymeric composition having non-gelled polymer chains, wherein said polymeric composition has a weight average molecular weight of at least 100,000 g/mol.