Preparation and properties of submicrometer particle methyl methacrylate-butyl acrylate polymers with multilayer morphology

Abstract Multilayer submicrometer particles having a core and 'a shell consisting of poly(methyl methacrylate) and an interlayer of a crosslinked copolymer of poly(butyl acrylate) were prepared by seeded emulsion polymerization. The interlayer encapsulates the core and hinders the encapsulated polymer from being dissolved. On dispersion stirring of the melt of a multilayer polymer, the encapsulation is disrupted and the amount of insoluble polymer corresponds to the mass of the middle layer of poly-(butyl acrylate). The impact resistance of films prepared from slightly crosslinked polymer samples increases markedly. Provided that the density of the interlayer network is high, the stirring causes the impact resistance of the polymer to be gradually reduced so that for highly crosslinked polymer material it becomes lower than for untreated polymer.