PTFE@Silica Janus Nanoparticles with Tunable Segments for Waterborne Composite Coatings

Microstructure and function of the as-used water-dispersed particles are crucial for designing waterborne coatings. In this work, asymmetric polytetrafluoroethylene@silica (PTFE@silica) Janus nanoparticles (JNPs) were successfully synthesized via a seeded emulsion polymerization strategy and employed as multifunctional fillers in an acrylic resin (ACR) matrix. The Janus architecture integrates a rigid silica domain and a lubricating Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) domain comparted in one object, incorporating mechanical reinforcement and friction reduction functions. Systematic investigations were conducted to evaluate the influence of PTFE/silica composition and nanoparticle loading on the coating microstructure and tribological performance. The results demonstrate that composite coatings containing JNPs with a PTFE/silica mass ratio of 1:0.7 and an ACR/JNPs mass ratio of 10:6 exhibit optimal performance. Under these conditions, the coating mass loss after 100 abrasion cycles decreases by 74.3% compared with that of the pure ACR coating. The resulting rigid-flexible synergistic interfacial structure significantly improves coating durability. This work demonstrates an effective strategy for enhancing abrasion resistance through Janus nanoparticle-enabled interfacial functional design, providing other insights for the development of high-performance polymer composite coatings.