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Emulsifier‐free miniemulsion polymerization of styrene and the investigation of encapsulation of nanoparticles with polystyrene via this procedure using an anionic initiator
Author(s) -
FaridiMajidi Reza,
SharifiSanjani Naser
Publication year - 2007
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.26114
Subject(s) - miniemulsion , polystyrene , potassium persulfate , materials science , emulsion polymerization , polymerization , thermogravimetric analysis , radical polymerization , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , nanoparticle , styrene , titanium dioxide , polymer , copolymer , nanotechnology , composite material , engineering
Emulsifier‐free miniemulsion polymerization of styrene was investigated in the presence of potassium persulfate (KPS) as an anionic initiator and cetyl alcohol as a costabilizer using ultrasonic irradiation and comparison of this procedure with conventional emulsifier‐free emulsion polymerization showed that this method has a remarkably higher polymerization rate ( R p ), smaller size of particles, and narrower molecular weight distribution via gravimetric measurement, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and gel permeation chromatography techniques, respectively. Then, the encapsulation of magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) and titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles with polystyrene was investigated using this procedure. Attempt to encapsulate magnetite nanoparticles failed; however, the encapsulation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles was successfully carried out via this procedure using KPS in both cases. TEM proved the presence of TiO 2 nanoparticles in polymer particles, and thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine the percentage of TiO 2 in the products. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007