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Seeded emulsion polymerization of n ‐butyl acrylate utilizing miniemulsions
Author(s) -
Tang P. L.,
Sudol E. D.,
Adams M.,
ElAasser M. S.,
Asua J. M.
Publication year - 1991
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.1991.070420728
Subject(s) - miniemulsion , nucleation , monomer , emulsion polymerization , polymerization , materials science , chemical engineering , butyl acrylate , polymer chemistry , emulsion , polymer , acrylate , particle (ecology) , particle size , chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , oceanography , engineering , geology
Nucleation of polymer particles in the seeded emulsion polymerization of n ‐butyl acrylate (BuA) was studied through experiments designed to control the amount of new particles formed. The results show that for the batch and semicontinuous seeded polymerization of BuA, a small amount of new particles was formed in the system in which the monomer was added neat, whereas a singificant amount of new particles was formed when the monomer was added as a miniemulsion. This suggests that new particles formed in the miniemulsion process were from nucleation of the monomer droplets. These experiments also showed that monomer‐droplet nucleation decreased with increasing seed concentration in the reactor. For the seeded semicontinuous polymerizations, monomer‐droplet nucleation decreases with decreasing BuA miniemulsion feed rate. The results also show that monomerdroplet nucleation takes place whenever miniemulsion droplets exist in the reactor. This study suggests that miniemulsions can be used to control the particle size distribution of a polymer latex system.