The Properties of High Solid Acrylic Based Polyurethane and Acrylic Latex Embedded with Nano-silica

Abstract

Preparation and characterization of high solid acrylic based polyurethane/nano-silica coatings and acrylic latex/nano-silica coatings were investigated. For acrylic based polyurethane, nanocomposite polymer coatings with different nano-SiO 2 particles embedded were prepared via in situ polymerization or blending method. For acrylic latex, nanocomposite polymer coatings with nano-SiO 2 particles embedded were prepared by blending via high shear stirring or ball milling and in situ polymerization. The mechanical and optical properties of the nanocomposite polymer coatings were studied intensively using pendulum hardness tester, scanning probe microscope (SPM), instron testing machine, dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectrophotometer. The coatings with micro-SiO 2 embedded were also investigated for comparison with the coatings containing nano-SiO 2 . The results showed that the macro hardness, micro hardness, and scratch resistance were obviously improved via addition of nano-SiO 2 . The tensile strength was also enhanced with the increasing content of nano-SiO 2 . The UV absorbance in the wavelength of 290-400 nm increased as nano-SiO 2 content increased but did not change with micro-SiO 2 particles. Acrylic/nano-SiO 2 composite latex showed that different preparation method could cause different dispersion of nanoparticles in the polymer matrix.