Preparation and characterization of a novel organic montmorillonite/fluorinated waterborne polyurethane nanocomposites: Effect of OMMT and HFBMA

Abstract The inorganic/organic waterborne polyurethane (WPU) hybrid dispersions modified by organic montmorillonite (OMMT) and end-capped by 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) were prepared. A series of novel organic montmorillonite/fluorinated waterborne polyurethane (OMMT/FWPU) nanocomposite emulsions with core–shell particle structure were synthesized via seed emulsion polymerization with 2,2,3,4,4,4-hexafluorobutyl methacrylate (HFBMA) by using OMMT/WPU hybrid dispersions as seed emulsions and macromonomers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) were utilized to analysis the structural properties of OMMT/FWPU nanocomposite. And the influences of OMMT and HFBMA contents on the thermal stability, dynamic mechanical properties and surface properties of OMMT/FWPU nanocomposite films were examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile test machine and static contact angle tester, respectively. The results showed that the OMMT/FWPU nanocomposites exhibited an improved thermal stability, dynamic mechanical properties and surface properties when the content of OMMT was 2 wt% and HFBMA was 15 wt%.