Preparation and characterization of hydrophobic waterborne polyurethane self‐matting coating

Abstract A green method to synthesize self‐matting waterborne polyurethane acrylic hybrid emulsion with hydrophobic function is introduced in this study. A reactive waterborne polyurethane (RWPU) dispersion containing unsaturated CC double bonds was prepared from epoxidized soybean oil. Subsequently, the RWPU dispersion was copolymerized with fluorinated monomers of different carbon chain lengths to prepare polyurethane acrylic hybrid emulsion (PUF). The results revealed the gloss levels of PUF films to be as low as 12.4 gloss units at 60°. The morphology of PUF films was observed by scanning electron microscope and three‐dimensional surface profilometer, and the relationship between surface roughness and gloss was discussed in detail. In addition, thermal gravimetric analysis was conducted to determine the thermal stability of the PUF films, and the results denoted that these PUF films exhibited excellent thermal stability. Comprehensive performance tests indicated that the RWPU dispersion, which was copolymerized with hexafluorobutyl methacrylate at a weight of 10%, exhibited a low gloss, a high contact angle of 120°, and a high elongation percentage of 423%. Furthermore, the dynamic light scattering results showed small average particle size, revealing the excellent storage stabilities.