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The preparation of small polystyrene latex particles
Author(s) -
Brouwer W. M.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1989.070380712
Subject(s) - pulmonary surfactant , polystyrene , microemulsion , polymerization , styrene , particle size , chemical engineering , emulsion polymerization , micelle , salt (chemistry) , materials science , particle (ecology) , critical micelle concentration , polymer chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , copolymer , polymer , aqueous solution , engineering , oceanography , geology
The effects of several variables in the preparation of small‐sized polystyrene latex particles are described. A semicontinuous preparation using microlatexes obtained by microemulsion polymerization as a seed is compared with a batchwise preparation employing the same ingredients. The particles in the batch products prove to be slightly larger in size but are more narrowly distributed. Furthermore, the effects of both the surfactant type and the ionic strength on the particle size in the batchwise emulision polymerization of styrene are reported. The systems do not obey the linear Smith–Ewart relationship with respect to the micellar surfactant concentration, although in the microemulsion polymerization of styrene the Smith–Ewart relationship is found to be valid with respect to the initiator concentration. Surfactants with a low critical micelle concentration increasingly promote the formation of smaller particle sizes. Salt is found to decrease the particle size when using a strong adsorbing surfactant. However, in the case of a weak adsorbing surfactant, an increase in particle size has been observed above a certain salt concentration.