Micromorphology and thermal properties of polyurethane/polyacrylate soap-free emulsion in the presence of functional monomers

Novel polyurethane/polyacrylate (PUA) composite emulsions were synthesized by soap-free emulsion polymerization method from methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA), and 2-Hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) in the presence of PU as seeds and a polymerizable emulsifier-Allyloxy hvdroxyl propanesulfonic salt (AHPS). Effects of the AHPS content on the properties of the emulsions and films were studied. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) result showed that the average diameters and polydispersity were decreased with the increment of AHPS content. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) result shows that AHPS was introduced into the PUAS chains. Their thermal stability and Tg of the films increased gradually with augment of AHPS amount in polymer. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that sodium was preferably enriched on the surface of latex particles. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) observation performed the extremely flat membrane.