Probing superficial and mechanical behaviors of nanosilica incorporated poly(acrylate) hybrid latexes

We reported the synthesis of nanosilica/poly(acrylate) (PA) core-shell hybrid latexes via emulsion polymerization with nanosilica as the core and acrylic copolymer as the shell. Firstly, the nanosilica was surface- functionalized with the coupling agent 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS). Then the nanosilica tethered APTS (SIAP) further connected to acrylate monomer by covalent bond during emulsion polymerization, leading to the formation of nanocomposite PA latexes. The microstructures of obtained nanosilica/PA hybrids (SIAP/PA) were characterized by attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), FT-IR imaging, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in detail. The FT-IR imaging indicated the perfect compatibility between the core and the shell. Additionally, the properties of hybrid films were investigated by water contact angle analysis and mechanical property measurement. The SIAP/PA composites exhibit hydrophobic behavior, enhanced tensile strength (about 1.5 times) and high elongation (1262%).