Synthesis and Properties of Cationic Fluorinated Polyacrylate Soap-Free Latex

Cationic fluorinated polyacrylate soap-free latex (CFMBD) was synthesized by semi-continuous seeded emulsion polymerization of dodecafluoroheptyl methacrylate (DFMA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA), and dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DM) with a novel cationic polymerizable emulsifier, maleic acid double ester-octadecyl poly(ethyleneoxy)₂₀ ether-ethylene trimethyl ammonium chloride (R303), and 2,2′- azobis (2 - methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (VA-50) was utilized as the initiator. Effects of some factors, such as VA-50 amount, R303 amount and DFMA amount, on stability and average particle size of the CFMBD were discussed in detail, and the optimal polymerization condition was obtained. In addition, the emulsion and its film were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry, thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), contact angle goniometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. FTIR confirmed the structure of the CFMBD. With the increasing of DFMA amount, water absorption of the film decreased and water contact angle of the film increased. While the DFMA amount was more than 6 g in the recipe, the water contact angle (107.5°) and the water absorption (7.8 wt%) of the film showed no more changes. Meanwhile, thermal stability of the copolymer was greatly improved with the increasing of DFMA amount. XPS analysis indicated the fluoroalkyl groups had the tendency to enrich at the film-air interface.