Preparation and properties of core-shell self-matting waterborne polyurethane acrylate

In order to solve the problems of low density and high brittleness prevailing in traditional matte materials with added matting agents. Herein, a series of self-matting waterborne polyurethane acrylate emulsions (SMWPUA) with rough surfaces, low gloss, and core-shell structures were synthesized by varying the mass ratio of added acrylate monomers using a double-bond capped waterborne polyurethane (WPU) and a polyacrylate as the substrate using the core-shell emulsion polymerization method. Successful synthesis of resins containing core-shell structures demonstrated by Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Tests such as atomicforce microscopy (AFM) showed that the synthesized emulsions were able to have a good matting effect, which was attributed to the increase in surface roughness and the increase in particle size. Emulsion particle size test was used to explore the variation of emulsion particle size. The thermal stability and hardness changes of SMWPUA and WPU were explored by TGA test and pencil hardness test. The results showed that with the increase of hard acrylate monomer content of SMWPUA, the surface gloss of the coating film was lower, the surface roughness of the cured film was larger, the glass transition temperature was increased, and the emulsion particle size was reduced. SMWPUA has better thermal stability and hardness than WPU.