Design and Performance of a Multifunctional Leather Finishing Agent: Combining Self‐Emulsifying Copolymers With Silicon Dioxide and Hydrotalcite Composite Nanoparticles

ABSTRACT Traditional polymer leather finishing agents often suffer from limitations such as poor wear resistance, thermal instability, and inadequate anti‐aging properties, along with environmental concerns due to exogenous emulsifiers. To address these challenges, this study innovatively developed a novel monomer self‐emulsifying copolymer‐based nanocomposite finishing agent, denoted as KH550‐SiO 2 @H‐LDH/PBMAS. This agent was fabricated by in situ embedding KH550‐modified core‐shell structured SiO 2 @H‐LDH composite nanoparticles into a self‐emulsifying copolymer matrix (denoted as PBMAS) using butyl acrylate (BA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), acrylic acid (AA), and sodium styrene sulfonate (SSS) to eliminate exogenous emulsifiers. The prepared nanocomposite emulsion and its films were systematically characterized. The results demonstrated that the KH550‐SiO 2 @H‐LDH/PBMAS coating exhibited superior comprehensive properties compared to the pure polymer (PBMAS) and single‐nanofiller composites (SiO 2 /PBMAS or H‐LDH/PBMAS), including significantly enhanced abrasion resistance, thermal stability, UV shielding, thermal insulation (thermal conductivity as low as 0.05 W·m −1 K −1 ), hydrophobicity (water contact angle > 95°), flame retardancy (Limiting Oxygen Index increased to 27.7%), and outstanding emulsion stability. This work provides a promising strategy for developing high‐performance, multifunctional, and environmentally friendly leather finishing materials.