Tuning the mechanical properties of epoxy-acrylate coatings

A recent study explores the effect of epoxy concentration on the mechanical properties of epoxy-acrylate core-shell nanostructures, offering new insights for developing high-performance coatings.

Research on epoxy-acrylate (EA) core-shell nanoparticles has gained significance due to their unique heterogeneous properties in coating applications. A new study investigates how varying epoxy concentrations in the core influence the mechanical properties of nanostructured films.

The researchers synthesized the core-shell nanoparticles through multistage seeded emulsion polymerization. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed homogeneous particle morphology. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated successful synthesis with two glass transition temperatures (~12 °C and ~60 °C) for the core and shell materials. An increase in the glass transition temperature of the shell layer was observed with higher epoxy content in the core, significantly affecting film formation behavior and mechanical properties through interlayer crosslinking.

The tensile modulus values for the films ranged from 200 to 500 MPa, marking the highest modulus reported for cast films of EA nanostructured materials. These findings reveal a promising method for producing highly customizable EA nanostructured films, enhancing wood coating performance significantly.

Source: Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, Volume 21, pages 1241–1254, (2024)