In this study, a series of (anionic and nonionic) emulsifiers were investigated to prepare acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) with core-shell structure by semicontinuous emulsion polymerization. The cloud point of different emulsifiers was characterized to explain the emulsifier effects on the emulsification ability. It was interestingly found that the hybrid emulsifiers (anionic coupling with nonionic) with optimized compositions could enhance the stability of emulsion system and improve the properties of PSA compared with the mono-emulsifier. The stability of emulsion polymerization, the appearance of the emulsion system and the properties of PSA were studied in details by changing the proportion and the content of hybrid emulsifiers. When the ratio of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS: anionic emulsifier) to polyoxyethylene alkyl phenyl ether (OP-1.0: nonionic emulsifier) reached 2 : 1, the content of hybrid emulsifiers reached 3 wt % and the reaction temperature was around 80 degrees C, a better emulsion system was obtained in terms of comprehensive properties. At this condition, the synthesized PSA demonstrated the good holding power and 180 degrees peel strength properties with fair tacky property, which was promising for industrial applications. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 115: 1125-1130, 2010