Self-crosslinking poly(methyl methacrylate-co-n-butyl acrylate-co-styrene-co-vinyltriethoxysilane) latex particles were prepared by seed emulsion polymerization. The presence of Si-O-Si in the prepared copolymer latex particle was confirmed by FT-IR. The crosslinking degree of the polymer latex particle was investigated by using tetrahydrofuran to swell the dried copolymer films with different vinyltriethoxysilane contents. The thermal properties of the solid films were investigated by using DSC and TGA. In addition, the mechanical properties and water resistances of the different copolymer films were also investigated in detail. It was found that the mechanical properties of the copolymer film could be enhanced by introducing vinyltriethoxysilane, and the water resistance of the copolymer film could be improved at certain vinyltriethoxysilane contents. (C) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.