Tensile Properties of Self-Crosslinkable Poly(n-butyl methacrylate-co-N-methylolacrylamide) Films Prepared by Emulsion and Microemulsion Latexes

摘要

The gel content, swelling degree and mechanical properties of selfcrosslinkable poly(n-butyl methacrylate-co-N-methylolacrylamide) films made by two-stage emulsion (using sodium dodecyl sulfate as surfactant) or microemulsion (using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as surfactant) polymerization processes in the presence of variable amounts of the chain transfer agent, n-butyl mercaptan, are reported here. Latexes made by microemulsion polymerization contain much smaller nanoparticles with lower amount of gel than those obtained by the emulsion process. Stress-strain tests in uncured and cured films indicate that microemulsion-made films are tougher and exhibit smaller deformations at break.