High‐Solids Content Waterborne Polymer‐Clay Nanocomposites

Abstract

Summary: Waterborne polymer clay nanocomposites (WPCN) were prepared by emulsion and miniemulsion copolymerization of butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate with enhanced mechanical, thermal and barrier properties for coating applications. Emulsion polymerization was used to synthesize WPCN using pristine Na‐MMT (sodium montmorillonite) and miniemulsion polymerization to prepare the WPCNs when the pristine clay was organically modified and hence its incorporation into the polymerization loci was not guaranteed by the conventional emulsion polymerization technique. Both techniques allowed preparing stable nanocomposite latexes of BA/MMA copolymers with partially exfoliated morphologies as demonstrated by wide X‐ray difraction (WAXD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurements. Furthermore, latexes with solids contents up to 45 wt% and manageable viscosities were prepared for the first time using seeded semibatch emulsion polymerization.

High solid content latex: Preparation methods and application

“…As for organic-inorganic HSC composite latexes, Gabriela Diaconu et al ever produced waterborne polymer clay nanocomposites (WPCN) via conventional emulsion [59,60] and miniemulsion [61] copolymerization of BA and MMA. The corresponding latexes have solid contents up to 45 wt.% with manageable viscosities.…”

Photoactive self-cleaning polymer coatings by TiO2 nanoparticle Pickering miniemulsion polymerization

“…This often leads to the aggregation of the TiO 2 reducing its activity efficiency. A way to reduce the aggregation of the TiO 2 is by integrating it in the film forming waterborne polymer/inorganic hybrids [18][19][20]. However, the photocatalytic efficiency requires the presence of TiO 2 at the surface of the film; good distribution of TiO 2 in the polymer film does not guarantee high performance in photocatalysis.…”

MoS2 Nanoplatelet Fillers for Enhancement of the Properties of Waterborne Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives

“…For the production of waterborne nanocomposites for application as paints, coatings and adhesives, two main methods have been reported: (1) emulsion mixing and (2) in situ polymerization in suspension, 12 emulsion [13][14][15][16] and miniemulsion. [17][18][19][20][21] The emulsion mixing method has shown to be the most simple and most effective method, since it consists of a simple blending of an aqueous dispersion of nanoparticles with the latex. 14,[22][23][24] One advantage of this simple method is that the polymer properties can be controlled during their synthesis and not perturbed by the presence of nanoparticles.…”