The waterborne polyacrylate emulsions with soft core-hard shell structure were synthesized by semi-continuous emulsion polymerization technology using methyl methacrylate (MMA), 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA), methylacrylic acid (MAA), diacetone acrylamide (DAAM) as monomers, and adipic dihydrazide (ADH) as crosslinker. ATR-FTIR, TEM, GPC, TG and DMA were utilized to characterize the bulk structures and properties of waterborne polyacrylate. The results show that crosslinking reaction between -CO-groups of DAAM and -NHNH2 groups of ADH can occur during emulsion film formation. The water resistance of emulsion film and the adhesion ratio of emulsion on biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film were improved due to the increased crosslinking density. Compared with the without crosslinked film, the crosslinked film improves thermal stability and glass transition temperature of the emulsion film. As DAAM content increased from 0% to 2%, water absorption ratio of emulsion film decreased from 24.2% to 7.6%, adhesion ratio on BOPP film increased from 87% to 100%. While the m(ADH)/m(DAAM) ratio increased from 0:1 to 0.7:1, water absorption ratio of emulsion film decreased from 28.1% to 7.6%, adhesion ratio on BOPP film increased from 0% to 100%. The optimal DAAM content and m(ADH)/m(DAAM) ratio was 2% and 0.7:1. The emulsion has good potential application in water-based ink for BOPP film.