Abstract

Waterborne polyurethane-acrylate(WPUA) dispersions were prepared by surfactant-free emulsion polymerization in a two-step process. In the first step, polytetrahydrofuran, isophorone diisocyanate, dimethylol proponic acid, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate were used to synthesize a vinyl-terminated polyurethane prepolymer. In the second step, styrene, methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, and different multi-functional crosslinkers were copolymerized. 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, and pentaerythritol tetraacrylate were used as the crosslinkers, and their effect on the mechanical and thermal properties of WPUA was investigated. Overall, as the number of functional groups of the crosslinker increased, the gel fraction improved to 79.26%, the particle size increased from 75.9 nm to 148.7 nm, and the tensile strength was improved from 5.86 MPa to 12.40 MPa. In thermal properties, the glass transition temperature and decomposition temperature increased by 9.9°C and 18°C, respectively. The chemical structures of the WPUA dispersions were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The synthesized WPUA has high potential for applications such as coatings, leather coatings, adhesives, and wood finishing.

Keywords: waterborne polyurethane-acrylate;crosslinker;mechanical properties;thermal stability