The drying kinetics and bulk morphology of pigmented latex films obtained from poly(n-butyl methacrylate-co-n-butyl acrylate) latex particles functionalized with carboxyl groups and ground calcium carbonate blends were Studied. Latex/pigment blends with higher carboxyl group coverage on the latex particle Surfaces dried faster than films with few or no carboxyl groups present. The latex/pigment dispersions also dried faster when there was more stabilizer present in the blend system because of the hydrophilic nature of the stabilizer. The net effect of increasing the pigment volume concentration in the blend system was to shorten the drying time. The bulk morphologies of the freeze-fractured Surfaces of the pigmented latex films were studied with scanning electron microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that increased Surface coverage of carboxyl groups On the latex particles in the latex/pigment blends resulted in the formation of smaller pigment aggregates with a more uniform size distribution in the blend films. In addition, the use of smaller latex particles in the blends reduced the ground calcium carbonate pigment aggregate size in the resulting films. Scanning electron microscopy analysis also showed that when the initial stabilizer coverage on the latex particles was equal to 1.8%, smaller aggregates of ground calcium carbonate were distributed within the copolymer matrix of the blend films in comparison with the cases for which the initial stabilizer coverage on the latex particles was 8 or 36%. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.