Synthesis and Leather Application Properties of a Carboxylated Graphene Oxide Modified Waterborne Polyacrylate Leather Finishing Agent

摘要

Carboxylated graphene oxide (GO-COOH), prepared by the reaction of bromoacetic acid with the hydroxyl and epoxy groups on the graphene oxide (GO) layers, was blended into a poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA) emulsion and a PEA emulsion based polyacrylate leather finishing agent respectively, to prepare PEA/GO-COOH composite emulsions and GO-COOH modified waterborne polyacrylate leather finishing agents. The consequence of the amount of GO-COOH on the properties of the PEA film and related leather coatings were systematically investigated. The results indicate that stable GO-COOH dispersed composite emulsions were generated leading to homogeneously dispersed composite films. With an increase in the GO-COOH amount from 0 wt% to 0.5 wt%, the tensile strength increased by 106.2%. Additionally, TGA results demonstrated an improvement of the thermal stability of PEA film after modified with GO-COOH. Most importantly, the folding resistance and rubbing fastness properties of leather finished with GO-COOH modified polyacrylate leather finishing agents were improved proportionate to the GO-COOH amount. Therefore, the GO-COOH modified waterborne polyacrylate leather finishing agent possesses improved performances and likely offers beneficial leather finishing application properties.