Accelerated ageing of hybrid acrylic waterborne coatings containing metal oxide nanoparticles: Effect on the microstructure

This work analyses the effect of UV radiation in a pure acrylic film, and two hybrid films, one with 1% CeO2 nanoparticles and another with 1% of ZnO nanoparticles. The long term durability of the polymeric films was studied by accelerated UV exposure ageing. The changes occurring in the polymeric films were analyzed by measuring thermal properties, molecular weight distributions (MWD), formation of cross-linked or gel structures and the morphology by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The results revealed small changes (almost negligible) in the thermal properties and morphology whereas some differences were found when the microstructure was analyzed. Nevertheless, these differences were similar in the three studied films, discarding any additional degradation effect of CeO2 and ZnO nanoparticles on acrylic films.