Nanocomposite particles with core-shell morphology IV: an efficient approach to the encapsulation of Cloisite 30B by poly (styrene-co-butyl acrylate) and preparation of its nanocomposite latex via miniemulsion polymerization

In this work, miniemulsion polymerization was applied for encapsulation of Cloisite 30B, an organically modified montmorillonite, inside poly (styrene-co-butyl acrylate) nanocomposite through an efficient and optimized procedure. The primary miniemulsions were prepared by dispersing Cloisite 30B in the monomers mixture (styrene and butyl acrylate) in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and Span 80 as surfactants and hexadecane as costabilizer by using ultrasonication. The stability of both miniemulsion and the obtained latex depends on premixing procedures, time and pulsed cycle of ultrasonication, and more importantly on the applied surfactants. The synthesized products were characterized by dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, induced coupled plasma, and Zeta potential measurement. Its prepared film shows an excellent transparency, which is indicative of full exfoliation of Cloisite 30B platelets by poly (styrene-co-butyl acrylate) latex particles through miniemulsion polymerization technique with 73% efficiency. No armored latex particle was observed.