Water-based ionomer dispersions were formed by post-polymerization addition of zirconium species to polymer latices prepared from butyl methacrylate (BMA), butyl acrylate (BA) and acrylic acid (AA) by semicontinuous emulsion polymerization. The mole fraction of AA, in the latex particles was kept at 10 mole% in all cases whereas the ratio of BA to BMA was varied. A method was established which allowed zirconium in the form of ammonium zirconium carbonate (AZC) to be successfully introduced into the latices without affecting their colloidal stability. Dynamic light scattering was used to determine average particle size in diluted latices. The structure and properties of cast ionomer films were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), tensile strength and swelling measurements. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to investigate the nature of the carboxylate bonding.