Copolymer, and surface treatment agent

1. A copolymer comprising:

a first polymer formed from a first monomer mixture and a second polymer formed from a second monomer,

wherein the copolymer is free from a fluorine atom,

the second polymer is obtained by polymerizing the second monomer in the presence of the first polymer,

the first monomer mixture comprises:

(a) a long-chain acrylate ester monomer represented by the formula:

CH 2 =CA 11 -C(═O)—O-A 12

wherein A 11 is a hydrogen atom, a monovalent organic group, a chlorine atom, a bromine atom or an iodine atom, and

A 12 is a linear or branched hydrocarbon group having 18-30 carbon atoms,

both of the first monomer mixture and the second monomer comprise (b) a halogenated olefin monomer, and

the second monomer does not comprise the long-chain acrylate ester monomer.

2. The copolymer according to claim 1 , wherein the copolymer further comprises at least one repeating unit selected from the group consisting of:

(c) a repeating unit derived from a short-chain acrylate ester monomer represented by the formula:

CH 2 =CA 21 -C(═O)—O-A 22

wherein A 21 is a hydrogen atom, a monovalent organic group, or a halogen atom,

A 22 is a linear or branched hydrocarbon group having less than 18 carbon atoms, and

(d) a repeating unit derived from a cyclic hydrocarbon group-containing acrylate ester monomer, and

the amount of the repeating unit (c) is 1 to 100 parts by weight, and the amount of the repeating unit (d) is 1 to 100 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of monomer (a).

3. The copolymer according to claim 1 , wherein the copolymer further comprises:

(e) a repeating unit derived from a fluorine-free crosslinkable monomer, and

the amount of the repeating unit (e) is 1 to 50 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of monomer (a).

4. The copolymer according claim 1 , wherein, in the long-chain acrylate ester monomer (a), A 11 is a methyl group or a chlorine atom, and A 12 is a linear or branched aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 18-30 carbon atoms.

5. The copolymer according to claim 1 , wherein the halogenated olefin monomer (b) is at least one selected from the group consisting of vinyl chloride and vinylidene chloride.

6. The copolymer according to claim 1 , wherein the first monomer mixture comprises at least one selected from the short-chain acrylate ester monomer (c), the cyclic hydrocarbon group-containing acrylate ester monomer (d) and the fluorine-free crosslinkable monomer (e), in addition to the long-chain acrylate ester monomer (a) and the halogenated olefin monomer (b).

7. The copolymer according to claim 1 , wherein the second monomer consists of the halogenated olefin monomer (b).

8. The copolymer according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of the monomer (a) is at least 40% by weight, based on the copolymer, and

the amount of the repeating unit (b) is 1 to 150 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of monomers (a).

9. A method of producing the copolymer according to claim 1 , which comprises the steps of:

(I) polymerizing the first monomer mixture to obtain the first polymer, and

(II) polymerizing the second monomer in the presence of the first polymer to obtain the second polymer,

wherein the copolymer comprises the first polymer formed from the first monomer mixture and the second polymer formed from the second monomer,

wherein the first monomer mixture comprises:

(a) a long-chain acrylate ester monomer represented by the formula:

CH 2 =CA 11 -C(═O)—O-A 12

wherein A 11 is a hydrogen atom, a monovalent organic group, a chlorine atom, a bromine atom or an iodine atom, and

A 12 is a linear or branched hydrocarbon group having 18-30 carbon atoms,

the first monomer mixture and the second monomer comprise (b) a halogenated olefin monomer, and

the second monomer does not comprise the long-chain acrylate ester monomer.

10. A surface treatment agent which comprises an aqueous emulsion comprising:

(1) the copolymer according to claim 1 ,

(2) a surface active agent, and

(3) a liquid medium comprising water.

11. The surface treatment agent according to claim 10 , wherein the amount of the surface active agent (2) is 0.1 to 20 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the copolymer (1), and

the amount of the liquid medium (3) is 5 to 99.9% by weight, based on the surface treatment agent.

12. The surface treatment agent according to claim 10 , which is a water- and oil-repellent agent or a soil resistant agent.

13. A method of producing the surface treatment agent according to claim 10 , which comprises the steps of:

(I) polymerizing the first monomer mixture to obtain the first polymer, and

(II) polymerizing the second monomer in the presence of the first polymer to obtain a second polymer.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein a chain transfer agent is used in the polymerization.

15. A method of treating a textile, comprising treating the textile with the surface treatment agent according to claim 10 .

16. A method of producing a treated textile, which applies, to a textile, the surface treatment agent according to claim 10 .

17. The copolymer according to claim 1 , wherein the halogenated olefin monomer (b) is an olefin having 2-20 carbon atoms and substituted by 1-10 chlorine atoms, bromine atoms or iodine atoms.

18. The copolymer according to claim 1 , wherein the polymerization of the second monomer is initiated, after 70 to 100% of the polymerization reaction of the first monomer is conducted.

19. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the polymerization of the second monomer is initiated, after 70 to 100% of the polymerization reaction of the first monomer is conducted.