PREPARATION OF IMPACT MODIFIED EPOXY-RESIN BY USING POLY(BUTYL ACRYLATE) POLY(GLYCIDYL METHACRYLATE) CORE-SHELL COMPOSITE-PARTICLES/

Poly(butyl acrylate)/poly(glycidyl methacrylate) core-shell latex was prepared by a two stage consecutive emulsion polymerization. It was po ssible to get narrow and monodispersed particles with an increase of s hell thickness. This was done by changing the stage ratio of core to s hell. The formation of core-shell morphology was confirmed by contact angle measurements, using the characteristics of composite particles e .g., surface tension, surface dispersity, and surface polarity in our research. At low stage ratio of core to shell, the morphology showed a tendency toward not forming core-shell morphology because of the ther modynamic instability, especially the effect of phase volume. The blen d of poly(butyl acrylate/poly(glycidyl methacrylate) core-shell compos ite particles with epoxy resin showed an impact strength increment of about 1.6 times compared with that of epoxy resin itself. In the tough ening mechanism, it was assumed that the crazing effect is preferred t o shear banding understanding poly(butyl acrylate)/poly(glycidyl metha crylate) core-shell composite particles as an impact modifier for epox y resins.