The heavy and rigid appearance of conventional burnt building tiles is not suitable for a global sustainable development strategy. Flexible facing tiles with lightweight and environmental materials are highly desirable for the construction industry today. In this work, water-based polymer emulsion-assisted flexible building tiles were prepared. Based on the method of achieving post crosslinking and improving adhesion with inorganic matrix-based materials, WPAs modified with GMA and KH570 display good chemical resistance and low solvent absorption (0.132 in water and 0.289 in ethanol respectively). The optimum mechanical performance of flexible building materials prepared with WPAs can strain 1.406% and stress 1.8658 MPa. The TGA, XRD, SEM and AFM results further indicate the excellent thermal stability and compatibility of flexible building tiles. Hence, flexible building tiles prepared with WPAs can be promising building materials for construction.
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