Synthesis and properties of copolymer microemulsions of siloxane and acrylate with a high solid content

Copolymer microemulsions of methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, and vinyltriisopropoxysilane with high monomer/surfactant ratios were prepared through a seeded semicontinuous polymerization in the presence of a redox initiator, ammonium persulfate/sodium hydrosulfate. The mean diameter of the particles decreased with an increase in the amount of the surfactant, the monomer concentration, and the vinyltriisopropoxy-silane/monomer ratio, but it increased with an increase in the concentration of the initiator. When the initiator concentration was 0.23% (ammonium persulfate/sodium hydrosulfate 1.5:1), the concentration of the composite surfactant was 0.9 wt %, and the reaction temperature was 50 degrees C; the solid content of the microemulsion could be up to 43% with a small particle size (mean diameter) of 39.8 nm. The chemical, freeze-thaw, and mechanical stability of the latexes was tested as well as the thermal stability of the films. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.