Preparation and Characterization of Poly(butyl acrylate)/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Composite Latex by Seeded Emulsion Polymerization

As model waterborne acrylic coatings, mono-dispersed poly(butyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate) copolymer latexes of random copolymer and core/shell type graft copolymer were prepared by seeded multi-staged emulsion polymerization with particle size of $180{\sim}200$ nm using semi-batch type process. Sodium lauryl sulfate and potassium persulfate were used as an emulsifier and an initiator, respectively. The effect of particle texture including core/shell phase ratio, glass transition temperature and crosslinking density, and film forming temperature on the film formation and final properties of film was investigated using SEM, AFM, and UV in this study. The film formation behavior of model latex was traced simultaneously by the weight loss measurement and by the change of tensile properties and UV transmittance during the entire course of film formation. It was found that the increased glass transition temperature and higher crosslinking degree of latex resulted in the delay of the onset of coalescence of particles by interdiffusion during film forming process. This can be explained qualitatively in terms of diffusion rate of polymer chains. However, the change of weight loss during film formation was insensitive to discern each film forming stages-I, II and III.