Cycloaliphatic Epoxide Crosslinkable Core-Shell Latexes: A New Strategy for Waterborne Epoxide Coatings

By Mark D. Soucek, Ganghua Teng, Shaobing Wu

New core-shell acrylic latexes designed for crosslinking with cycloaliphatic diepoxides were prepared. The core consisted of methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and the shell MMA, BA, and methacrylic acid (MAA).

A strong acid acrylate was incorporated into the shell to catalyze the crosslinking reactions. The diepoxide crosslinker was introduced into the latex formulation via three methods: (1) added with the monomers during the polymerization of the latex, (2) added after the preparation of the latex in an organic solvent, and (3) added as a separate emulsion. The stability of epoxide was shown to be dependent on latex morphology, initiator system, and reaction conditions.