Synthesis of nano‐TiO 2 /fluorinated polyacrylate core‐shell latex and its application in fabric finishing

Nano-TiO2/fluorinated polyacrylate hybrid latex was prepared by soap-free emulsion polymerization using reactive emulsifier. With the increase of modified nano-TiO2 content, the monomer conversion gradually decreased while the gel rate slowly increased accordingly. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses indicated that the core-shell latex particles were uniform with narrow size distribution. In addition, the hybrid film formed from nano-TiO2/fluorinated polyacrylate latex presented higher thermal stability, mechanical and UV-shielding performance than the film formed from fluorinated polyacrylate latex. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and water contact angles (WCA) analyses confirmed that the surface of hybrid film was slightly rough and hydrophobic. Furthermore, the energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis revealed that the organic fluorine segment had the tendency to migrate to the film-air interface. At last, the results of the antibacterial activity and WCA showed that the cotton fabric treated with nano-TiO2/fluorinated polyacrylate hybrid latex possessed good antibacterial property and remarkable water repellency. POLYM. COMPOS., 2017. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers