Preparation of Polyurethane/Acrylate Composite Emulsion for Inkjet Printing

Abstract

Water-borne polyurethane/acrylate (WPUA) emulsion was prepared through emulsion polymerization between vinyl terminated waterborne polyurethane (WPU) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in this research. Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), contact angle analysis, and particle size distribution analysis were employed to investigate the performance of the prepared emulsion and coatings with various content of MMA content. The results demonstrated that the thermal resistance, water resistance, and hardness of the prepared WPUA coatings were enhanced by the introduction of the MMA monomer. The contact angle (CA) and particle size of WPUA emulsion increased with the increase of MMA content. Meanwhile, the water-borne inkjet printing ink was prepared using WPUA emulsion as binder resin, and the printing test result showed that the prepared inkjet ink has good printability and color rendering, indicating that WPUA emulsion has great application prospects in the field of inkjet printing.