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Emulsion polymerization of styrene with Iso‐octyl‐3‐mercaptopropionate as chain transfer agent
Author(s) -
Minari R. J.,
Vega J. R.,
GonzálezSierra M.,
Meira G. R.,
Gugliotta L. M.
Publication year - 2008
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.28490
Subject(s) - styrene , emulsion polymerization , chain transfer , emulsion , transfer agent , polymer chemistry , polymerization , materials science , chemical engineering , polystyrene , copolymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , radical polymerization , polymer , engineering
Four batch and unseeded emulsion polymerizations of styrene were investigated, which included isooctyl 3‐mercaptopropionate (iOMP) as chain transfer agent (CTA). This compound was analyzed by 13 C NMR and GC/MS, resulting in a mixture of over 10 isomers. Because of different reactivities of the CTA isomers, the produced polystyrenes presented broad and bimodal molecular weight distributions (MWDs). A mathematical model was adjusted to the measurements, and the measured MWDs were adequately predicted when assuming the CTA as a binary mixture of high but different reactivities. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008