The Swelling of Latex
Abstract The swelling of solid substances is a phenomenon which has been known for a long time, and extended investigations have been made on its nature. On the other hand the title of the present work may appear to be incongruous, for there has been in the past no evidence that liquids have any tendency to swell. At least the mutual action of two liquids has been spoken of, not as a swelling, but only as a partial mixing, i. e., as an equilibrated dispersion. Nevertheless, under certain conditions latex undergoes actual swelling. A reference to the works of Hauser and of earlier investigators on the morphology and composition of latex will show that the colloidal condition of the solid phase of latex is responsible for its remarkable behavior with hydrocarbons. Latex represents a dispersion of rubber in a serum. The rubber, in the form of latex globules, is surrounded by a layer of adsorbed protein. Besides salts and sugars, the serum contains protein. This complex composition causes the remarkable phenomenon of swelling of latex with hydrocarbons. A few years ago the author dealt with this phenomenon in a brief way. In the present work a few observations on experiments on the swelling of latex are described. The results of the investigation show that swelling in ammoniacal latex depends upon the swelling of a layer of rubber in the boundary surface.