Waterborne acrylic–casein latexes as eco-friendly binders for coatings

• Acrylic/casein latexes were synthesized in presence of varied protein concentrations.
• Film morphology was strongly affected by acrylic/casein compatibility.
• The hybrid latexes show a notable synergic effect between both components.
• Casein incorporation improves blocking resistance, hardness and biodegradability.
• Hybrid latexes proved to be a good alternative as eco-friendly binders for coatings.

The use of casein as renewable resource to produce eco-friendly hybrid latexes has an increasing importance in industrial applications especially for high performance waterborne coatings. This work describes the synthesis of hybrid acrylic–casein latexes by emulsion polymerization of acrylic monomers in presence of varied casein concentration, and in absence of emulsifier which is usually a challenge for preparing stable nanocomposite latexes. The production and microstructure characterization of the casein–acrylic nanoparticles, as well as the properties of the films obtained from the hybrid latexes are here reported. The synthesized acrylic–casein latexes are able to form films with promising properties for a potential application as waterborne bio-based coatings.

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