Synthesis of raspberry-like SiO2/polyacrylate nanocomposite latexes via a one-step miniemulsion polymerization and its film properties

Narrowly size-distributed raspberry-like SiO2/polyacrylate nanocomposite latexes were prepared by miniemulsion polymerization. The effects of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and γ-(methacryloxypropyl) trimethoxy silane (KH570) content on the properties of composite emulsion and films have been investigated. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis showed that the narrowly size-distributed nanocomposite latexes could be prepared by the 6–10 wt% TEOS dosage and 0–2.5 wt% KH570 dosage effectively. Centrifugal stability results indicated that narrowly size-distributed composite latex particles were beneficial to the stability of composite emulsion. The formation mechanism of raspberry-like nanocomposite latex particles was proposed by measuring the morphology evolution of composite latex particles during the polymerization process. The performance analysis of nanocomposite films showed that the raspberry-like nanocomposite latexes had excellent film properties. What is more, scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis indicated that SiO2 nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on surface of the composite films prepared by 10 wt% TEOS and 1.5 wt% KH570, and a good interface was established in the films.