Micromorphology and adhesive properties of sulfonated polyurethane/polyacrylate emulsions prepared by surfactant-free polymerization

Novel eco-friendly sulfonated polyurethane/polyacrylate (SPUA) emulsions were synthesized by surfactant-free emulsion polymerization method using PU as seeds. The sodium sulfonate modified polyester polyol (SDNP) was used as internal emulsifier to make the PU emulsion disperse in deionized water. Effects of the SDNP content on the properties of the emulsions and membranes were studied. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) result showed that the average particle sizes of SPUA emulsions decreased first from 124.1 nm to 102 nm when the SDNP content was lower than 40 wt% and then increased to 138 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) morphology showed that the particle sizes were all spherical and an apparent core-shell structure was observed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) result ascertains that SPUA was successfully prepared. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis demonstrates that the carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and sodium peaks were all revealed and the polyurethane component was rich in the upper surface. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) of the membranes showed that the thermal stability of the SPUA membranes was enhanced by increasing the SDNP content. Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) results demonstrates that the coexistence of a dual phase. The SPUA could be used as adhesives in footwear industry, and the T-peel strength of the SPUA membranes increased from 5.98 N/mm to 12.06 N/mm when the SDNP content was up to 40 wt%. The wettability of SPUA emulsions on the rubber surface results showed that the emulsions could wet the rubber surface well.