Synthesis and Film Formation of Aqueous Emulsion Polymer Latexes Featuring Hydrogen Bonding via a Janus Guanine-Cytosine Base Monomer

Polymer latexes synthesized through emulsion polymerization are crucial in many industries. In designing these latexes, the largest challenge is often achieving a balance between mechanical properties and film-formation properties. The present work employs the incorporation of H-bonding moieties to improve mechanical properties without forgoing the film-forming properties of the latex. This is achieved by incorporating a methacrylate-functionalized guanine-cytosine base (GCBMA-Boc) monomer in emulsion polymerization with butyl acrylate (BA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) comonomers. Upon removal of the Boc protecting group, GCBMA can undergo self-complementary self-assembly-driven supramolecular polymerization due to two sets of DDA-AAD-type triple H-bonding arrays. Stable latex particles with up to 10 mol % GCBMA-Boc were successfully synthesized, which demonstrated tunable polymer and mechanical properties. With minimal incorporation of GCBMA (1.0–2.5 mol %), significant improvements in film strength and stretchability were observed compared with Boc-protected films. The present findings emphasize the importance of a soft and elastic base latex for maximizing the benefits of the introduced H-bonding moieties. This work provides valuable insights for designing polymer latexes with enhanced mechanical properties for various applications.