Preparation and Characterization of Acrylic/Nano-TiO2 Composite Latex

Abstract

Acrylic/nano-TiO2 composite latex samples were prepared via high-shear stirring and mixing (SM), ball milling and mixing (BM) and in situ polymerization (IS) methods, and investigated by transmission electron micrography (TEM), testing with an Instron machine, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectrophotometry. It was shown that the IS method led to the best dispersion of nano-TiO2 particles in acrylic copolymer films, the SM method was the second best and the BM method gave the least good result. Addition of nano-TiO2 by SM and BM methods led to higher tensile strength and Tg for polymers than introduction with micro-TiO2 and without any fillers. UV-VIS spectra indicated that addition of nano-TiO2 into acrylic copolymers could increase the absorbance and decrease the transmittance in the UV region, whereas the absorbance or transmittance in the UV region basically remained unchanged for the composites filled with micro-TiO2.