Aqueous floor polishing composition

1. An aqueous floor care composition comprising:

water;

polymer particles wherein the polymer particles include units derived from a conjugated diene monomer, units derived from two or more acidic monomers, and units derived from a hard, non-acidic monomer;

an external crosslinking agent; and

optionally one or more of a leveling agent, surfactant, polyurethane, alkali-soluble resin, coalescing agent, plasticizer, and wax.

2. The composition of claim 1 , where the polymer particles include from about 5 to about 50 wt. % polymeric units derived from a conjugated diene monomer.

3. The composition of claim 2 , where the conjugated diene monomer is selected from the group consisting of 1,3-butadiene, isoprene, 1,3-pentadiene, 1,3-hexadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-ethyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-methyl-1,3-pentadiene, 3-methyl-1,3-pentadiene, 4-methyl-1,3-pentadiene, and 2,4-hexadiene.

4. The composition of claim 1 , where the polymer particles include from about 5 to about 20 wt. % polymeric units derived from acidic monomers.

5. The composition of claim 1 , where the two or more acidic monomers are each selected from the group consisting of α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids, vinyl versatic acids, and mixtures thereof.

6. The composition of claim 1 , where the two or more acidic monomers are each selected from the group consisting of methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, citraconic acid, cinnamic acid, acrylic acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid, acids derived from anhydrides such as maleic anhydride, and mixtures thereof.

7. The composition of claim 1 , where the two or more acidic monomers are each selected the group consisting of methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, itaconic acid and mixtures thereof.

8. The composition of claim 1 , where the acid value of the polymer particles is from about 65 to about 180.

9. The composition of claim 1 , where the polymer particles include from about 1 to about 75 wt. % polymeric units derived from a non-acidic hard monomer.

10. The composition of claim 9 , where the hard monomer is selected from the group consisting of styrene, α-methyl styrene, t-butyl styrene, alkyl substituted styrene, divinyl benzene, a polyunsaturated divinyl compound, methyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, isobutyl methacrylate, vinyl acetate, acrylonitrile, methyl acrylamide, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid, a sodium, potassium, or ammonium salt of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid, and a mixture thereof.

11. The composition of claim 1 , where the polymer particles include polymeric units derived from a functional monomer selected from the group consisting of 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), n-methylol acrylamide (n-MA), n-methylol methacrylamide (n-MMA), acrylamide, and methacrylamide.

12. The composition of claim 11 , where the polymer particles include from about 1 to about 10 wt. % polymeric units deriving from a functional monomer.

13. The composition of claim 1 , where the polymer particles include from about 5 to about 50 wt. % units deriving from 1,3-butadiene, from about 1 to about 80 wt. % units deriving from styrene, from about 1 to about 30 wt % units deriving from methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, or mixtures therefore, and from about 0.1 to about 5 wt. % units deriving from itaconic acid, based on the entire weight of the particle.

14. The composition of claim 1 , where the polymer particles further include units derived from acrylonitrile.

15. The composition of claim 1 , where the polymer particles are dispersed within the aqueous composition, and where the amount of particles is from about 30 to about 55 wt. %, based upon the weight aqueous composition.

16. The composition of claim 1 , where the polymer particles are characterized by having a Tg from about 10° C. to about 100° C., based upon dried samples or films of the aqueous composition using DSC techniques.

17. The composition of claim 1 , where the external crosslinking agent is selected from the group consisting of zinc ammonium carbonate, calcium ethylenediamine-ammonium carbonate, zinc ammonium acetate, zinc ammonium acrylate, zinc ammonium malate, zirconium ammonium malate, zinc ammonium aminoacetate, and calcium ammonium alanine.

18. The composition of claim 1 , where the aqueous composition comprises a leveling agent in an amount of from about 0.1 to about 5 wt. %, based upon the total weight of the aqueous composition.

19. A latex composition comprising:

water; and

polymer particles, where the polymer particles include units derived from a conjugated diene monomer, units derived from a hard, non-acidic monomer, and from about 5 to about 30 wt. % units derived from an acidic monomer, based upon the entire weight of the polymer particles, where the particles are substantially compositionally homogeneous.

20. An aqueous floor care composition comprising:

water;

polymer particles wherein the polymer particles include units derived from a conjugated diene monomer, units derived from two or more acidic monomers, and units derived from a hard, non-acidic monomers, where the polymer particles are characterized by a Tg of greater than 50° C.;

an external crosslinking agent; and

optionally one or more of a leveling agent, surfactant, polyurethane, alkali-soluble resin, coalescing agent, plasticizer, and wax.