Investigation on the film surface and bulk properties of fluorine and silicon contained polyacrylate

A series of fluorine and silicon acrylic latexes have been prepared from acrylic monomers, 2,2,3,4,4,4-hexafluorobutyl acrylate (HFBA) and vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) via emulsion polymerization. Morphology and particle size distribution were evaluated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) methods. Surface properties of latex films were investigated in terms of ATR-FTIR spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and water resistance measurement. It is indicated that fluorine content at the surface of fluorosilicone acrylic film decreased as the film forming temperature was increased. A high temperature favored silicon condensation at the film surface, which limited migration ability of fluorine chains. Fluorine segment contributed to surface hydrophobicity while silicon component was beneficial to improve water repellency of the film bulk. Silicon containing particles were more difficult to coalesce than fluorine acrylic particles due to the rigid crosslinked network derived from silanol crosslinking.