Synthesis and characterization of core–shell polyacrylate particles containing hindered amine light stabilizers

A polymerizable hindered amine light stabilizer (HALS) 1,2,2,6,6-pentamethylpiperidin-4-yl acrylate (PMPA) was synthesized through transesterification of 1,2,2,6,6-pentamethylpiperidin-4-ol (PMP) with methyl acrylate (MA). Core–shell latex particles containing HALS moieties in the shell phase were prepared by two-stage seeded emulsion polymerization from n-butyl acrylate (BA), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and PMPA. The Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) analysis showed that PMPA monomer was successfully prepared and was effectively involved in the polyacrylate particles. The surface composition was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the results indicated that HALS-containing groups could be distributed on the surfaces of the particles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis revealed that the particles obtained presented a core–shell structure with a particle size around 100 nm. Two glass transition temperatures (Tg), assigned to the core phase and the shell phase of the particles, respectively, were observed for both HALS-containing and HALS-free particles, as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In addition, the Tg value for the shell phase of HALS-containing particles was 13 °C lower than that of HALS-free particles, indicating the presence of random copolymer between MMA monomer and PMPA comonomer in the shell phase. The thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and differential thermal gravimetric (DTG) results showed that HALS-containing particles provided an improvement in thermal stability in comparison to HALS-free particles.