The preparation of a three-layer “core–shell” structured epoxy-acrylate emulsion

Abstract

“Core–shell” structured epoxy-acrylate emulsions with different contents of epoxy resins were synthesized. Styrene (St), butyl acrylic (BA), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and epoxy resin (E-51) were used as the main raw materials. The fine control of the epoxy content was the key approach to design the morphologies of the emulsion. Due to the different epoxy contents, there was a transition of the particle morphologies from irregular structure, to two-layer core–shell structure to three-layer core–shell structure. The particle size became larger and then smaller again, and the thermal stability of the emulsion decreased with the increase of the epoxy content. The emulsion with clear three-layer “core–shell” structures and uniform particle size distribution could be prepared when the content of epoxy resin was 30 wt%. The corresponding film prepared by the emulsion had the characteristic of self-stratification.