(1) School of Chemical & Material Engineering, Jiang Nan University, Wu Xi, 214122, People’s Republic of China
Abstract:
UV-curable waterborne polyurethane (WUPU)/silica nanocomposites were prepared using various silica by phase-inversion emulsification
method. TEM examinations of nanostructured films indicated that the organic modified nanosilica was well dispersed in the
WUPU matrix, while the acid and alkaline silica formed much less compact, or densely aggregated structure. DMA analysis demonstrated
that the WUPU/silica nanocomposite films had a broadening of the tanδ peak and shifted to higher temperature. The WUPU/silica nanocomposite films displayed enhanced storage modulus, Shore A hardness,
tensile strength without sacrificing high elongation at break compared to that of the pure WUPU film. The resulting nanocomposite
films are possibly interesting for the generation of waterborne UV-curable transparent coatings with scratch-resistance.