Preparation of Acrylic Copolymers and Crosslinking Agents and Properties as a Film

Copolymers of butyl acrylate (BA)-methyl methacrylate (MMA)-acrylic acid (AA) and intraparticle crosslinking agents containing N-methylol acrylamide (NMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) were prepared by emulsion copolymerization. After that, films were prepared from the Mixture of copolymers and the interparticle crosslinking agents. The interparticle crosslinking agents were prepared from hexamethylene diisocyanate and aziridine ethanol. Mixtures of the copolymer and the interparticle crosslinking agent were cast to films and crosslinked in a convection even. The effects of the contents of the intra/interparticle crosslinking agents were also evaluated. By increasing the contents of EGDMA, roughness of the films was increased because of the effects of EGDMA acting as an intraparticle crosslinking agent. By increasing the contents of the interparticle crosslinking agent, roughness was also increased by the reaction between the copolymers and interparticle crosslinking agent. Tensile strength and water and chemical resistance of the film were increased, whereas elongation of film was decreased by increasing the contents of interparticle crosslinking agents. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 112:1587-1594, 2009