Hybrid Acrylic-Casein Nanoparticles

M.L. PICCHIO; R.J. MINARI; M.J. BARANDIARAN; L.M. GUGLIOTTA

Dresden

Congreso; European Polymer Congress 2015; 2015

European Polymer Federation

The use of casein as renewable resource to produce eco-friendly hybridnanoparticles has an increasing importance in industrial applications,especially for high performance waterborne coatings [1]. This workdescribes the synthesis of hybrid acrylic-casein nanoparticles byemulsion polymerization of acrylic monomers in presence of variedconcentration of casein and tert-butyl hydroperoxide as initiator [2]. Inthis work, polymerization kinetic, degree of compatibility (casein andacrylic grafting) and film properties of the synthesized nanoparticles areanalyzed. Due to the fact that the fraction of grafted casein depends onthe casein content of latexes, the film properties also show a markedvariation with its composition. Thus, the poorer film performances areobtained when using high protein concentrations because the fraction ofungrafted casein is higher. Therefore, to overcome that limitation acrosslinkable casein, which contains acrylic groups able to radicallypolymerize, is employed. The degree of grafting of both acrylic andcasein was significantly increased by using the crosslinkable casein.Furthermore, it is observed that the improved degree of compatibilityobtained when using the crosslinkable casein considerably enhanced theproperties of the acrylic/casein films. The mechanisms responsible forthese effects will be discussed along this presentation.