Effects of Silica Sol on Structure and Properties of Core-Shell Silicon-Acrylic Materials

Silica sol prepared by sol-gel method was introduced into poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA)/poly(butyl acrylate-styrenemethacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane) (PSBM) core-shell emulsions to prepare a series of paper surface sizing agents. The rheological measurement indicated that PSBM emulsions exhibited shear-thinning behavior, and the phenomena became more pronounced with increasing silica sol concentration. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) demonstrated that the stronger interfacial interaction between silica sol and polymer matrix, but microphase separation took place with excess silica sol. Thereby the tensile strength and thermal stability of emulsion films were increased with desirable silica sol concentration, and when silica sol concentration was greater than 6 wt%, the tensile strength leveled off and the decomposition temperature decreased from 351.19 ̊C to 331.63 ̊C. The degree of crystallinity increased from 5.12% to 10.98% with 4% silica sol addition, resulting in enhanced rigidity of films. Furthermore, the interaction between polymer and fiber was improved with certain amount of silica sol, resulting in improved sizing degree, ring crush strength, surface strength and folding strength. However, excessive crosslinking will be harmful for the properties of sized paper.