Miniemulsion copolymerization of (meth)acrylates in the presence of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes for reinforced coating applications.

Film forming, stable hybrid latexes made of methyl metacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) copolymer reinforced with modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were synthesized by in situ miniemulsion polymerization. The MWCNTs were pretreated by an air sonication process and stabilized by polyvinylpyrrolidone. The presence of the MWCNTs had no significant effect on the polymerization kinetics, but strongly affected the polymer characteristics (