Abstract: The interaction of cationic dye with polymer emulsion was analyzed using conductivity and surface tension measurements. The results show that adding X-GRL concentration lower than its aggregation concentration to the polymer emulsion could increase the conductivity of mixed emulsion and, adding polymer emulsion to X-GRL solution higher than its aggregation concentration could also increase the conductivity of the mixed solution. The conductivity of the mixture of polymer emulsion with X-RL solution which the concentration was much higher than its aggregation concentration was lower than those of X-GRL solutions with same concentration, which indicates the adsorption of X-GRL on the surface of polymer latex reducing the conductivity of latex. And, the surface tension of the mixture was lower than those of the dye solution and the polymer emulsion due to the formation of a complex of dye ion and surfactant in the emulsion at the air / liquid interface.

Key words: cationic red X-GRL, polymer emulsion, interaction, conductivity, surface tension