Preparation and comparative evaluation of well-defined fluorinated acrylic copolymer latex and solution for ancient stone protection

In this work the well-defined fluorinated acrylic copolymer latex and solution were prepared by the radical initiated seed emulsion polymerization and solution polymerization, respectively, using the same monomers of dodecafluoroheptyl methacrylate (DFHM), butyl acrylate (BA) and methyl methylacrylate (MMA). The copolymer latex BA/MMA/DFHM was designed as core–shell structure and the copolymer solution poly(BA–MMA–DFHM) was structured with low molecular weight. The chemical and morphology structures as well as the film properties obtained from latex and solution were analyzed and compared by spectroscopic techniques (FT-IR and NMR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray detector (SEM–EDX) and static contact angles (CAs) instrument. Moreover, the BA/MMA/DFHM latex and poly(BA–MMA–DFHM) solution (with 29 wt% of DFHM) were applied onto two kinds of sandstone samples by capillary absorption, and their preliminary protecting efficiency was evaluated. It is demonstrated that the comprehensive performances of BA/MMA/DFHM latex films were quite comparable to those of poly(BA–MMA–DFHM) solution cast films, the latter exhibited a better protective performance.