Acrylic-based nanocomposite resins have been investigated in view of future application in water borne automotive coatings by the aid of postemulsification processes. Mechanical, flow and leveling properties of the nanocomposite resins, containing various concentrations of silicate, have been investigated. The results are related to morphological information obtained from TEM and WAXS measurements in the liquid suspension as well as from the cured film. At low silicate loadings, when flow properties are still acceptable for typical emulsification processing, a strong increase in modulus of the cured coating films is observed because of the mainly exfoliated silicate platelets. The rate of increase in modulus of the cured films decreases at higher silicate loadings. Analyzing the mechanical data, using Halpin-Tsai theory indicates that this is due to less perfect exfoliation at higher silicate loading, which is confirmed by TEM analysis. In addition at higher silicate loading, the flow properties of the resin as analyzed by DMA show solid-like behavior. This can lead to poor film formation in future application. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.