Waterborne adhesives are extremely environment-friendly but unfortunately deficient in mechanical properties. In this article, nanosilica, stemming from tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), silica sol, and/or fumed silica powder, was employed to reinforce the waterborne silylated polyether adhesives. Effects of TEOS content, silica sol content, and the type and content of fumed silica on the shear strength of the adhesive were investigated using a scanning electronic microscope and an electronic instron tester and the strengthening mechanisms of different silica source were discussed. All the shear strengths of silylated polyether adhesives first increased and then decreased as TEOS content, silica sol content or fumed silica content increased. Colloidal silica particles was less efficient than fumed silica particles for reinforcing the polyether adhesive but can increase the shear strength of hydrophobic fumed silica embedded adhesive. Comparing the adhesives with the hydrophilic fumed silica (HS-5) or the extremely hydrophobic fumed silica (TS-720), the adhesive with moderate hydrophobic fumed silica (TS-610) had the highest shear strength. The maximal shear strength of 2.5 MPa was achieved when TEOS, silica sol, and fumed silica were combined. It seemed that TEOS, silica sol, and fumed silica played crosslinking (with polyether chain), dispersing (for fumed silica), and reinforcing roles on waterborne adhesive, respectively. This reinforcing mechanism opened a new way to fabricate waterborne adhesives (or coatings) with high performances.

This paper presents a novel and facile method for the fabrication of nanocomposite films with ordered porous surface structures. In this approach, a water-borne poly(styrene-co-butyl acrylate-co-acrylic acid)/silica nanocomposite dispersion was synthesized in situ by surfactant-free emulsion polymerization by using 3-allyloxy-2-hydroxy-1-propanesulfonate as a polymerizable surfactant. When this dispersion was dried to form a film at a certain temperature, an ordered porous structure could be directly obtained on the surface of the nanocomposite film. SEM, TEM, and AFM were employed to observe the morphology, and XPS and particle analyzer were used to analyze the surface composition of the ordered porous nanocomposite film and the particle size, respectively.

The Max-Planck-Society is gratefully acknowledged for financial support. S.Z. thanks the Alexander on Humboldt Foundation for a research fellowship. We are also indebted to Dr. Igor Djerdj for recording the HRTEM images and Dr. Minhua Cao and Jinming Wu for carrying out the XRD tests.

The dispersion behavior of crystalline zirconia nanoparticles with a diameter of 3.8nm, synthesized from zirconium-(IV) isopropoxide and benzyl alcohol in tetrahydrofurane (THF), methyl methacrylate (MMA), and styrene (St), was investigated using 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MPS), ethyl 3,4-dihydroxycinnamate (EDHC), allylmalonic acid (AMA), and trimethylolpropane mono allyl ether (TMPMA) as ligating stabilizers containing polymerizable vinyl groups. Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses prove that the as-synthesized wet zirconia nanoparticles can be dispersed inTHFwithout any agglomeration when using the appropriate ligand concentrations. Surface-adsorbed water, if intentionally introduced during the washing step, and also air humidity seriously deteriorate their dispersibility. These results suggest that the excellent dispersibility of the zirconia nanoparticles is a direct consequence of the nonaqueous synthesis approach. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) illustrate that MPS, EDHC, and AMA are chemically attached but TMPMA is physically attached to the surface of the zirconia nanoparticles. Transparent dispersions of zirconia nanoparticles can also be prepared in MMA with the help of MPS, EHDC, and AMA or in St with MPS and TMPMA, opening a promising pathway for the direct application of zirconia nanoparticles in polymer-based nanocomposites.

Europium(III) (Eu3þ)-doped polyurethane films were prepared by mixing Eu-methacrylic acid complex (Eu(MA)3) with aliphatic polyurethane oligomer and subsequently curing under UV irradiation. Transmission electron microscopy photos and the appearance of the resulting hybrid films showed that phase separation occurred only at an Eu(MA)3 content above 20 wt.-%. Fluorescence spectra indicated that the fluorescence of Eu3þ was barely influenced by the polyurethane matrix and its intensity increased with an Eu(MA)3 content in the range of approximately 0 to 10 wt.-%. An obvious applied external-field-dependent magnetization (M) of polyurethane/Eu(MA)3 films, namely, an increasingMat low field and a decreasingMat high field, was observed at room temperature from the hysteresis loops, which was influenced by both the Eu(MA)3 content and the ultrasonication imposed on the coatings before curing. It seems that ultrasonication leads to a thermodynamically-unstable structure of Eu3þ in hybrid films, which can be fixed by UV curing but gradually rearranges to its original form during the thermal-curing process, and enhances the diamagnetic part of the hybrid film. Thus, the magnetic property of Eu3þ-doped polyurethane film at room temperature can be adjusted by simply changing the preparation method and the Eu(MA)3 content instead of the type of Eu3þ-organic complex.