Evaluation of the emulsion copolymerization of vinyl pivalate and methacrylated methyl oleate

In this study, we synthesized a new class of copolymeric lattices based on vinyl pivalate (VPi) and modified oleic acid (OA) through a batch emulsion polymerization process. The effects of the chemically modified OA [methacrylated methyl oleate (MAMO)] on the thermal stability, glass‐transition temperature ( T g ), average molar masses [mass‐average molar mass ( M w ) and number‐average molar mass ( M n )], and molar mass dispersity ( Ð ) of the copolymers were evaluated. The experimental results indicate that via the introduction of MAMO into the polymer chains resulted in significant reductions in T g , M w , M n , and Ð ; this demonstrated a decrease of T g at approximately 40 °C when the MAMO molar fraction equaled 9% compared to the value observed for the pure poly(vinyl pivalate) (PVPi), which was equal to 80.5 °C. MAMO incorporation led to a significant decrease in the M w value observed in the interval, with a differential from approximately 1.6 × 10 3 to 289.6 kg/mol, and Ð values between 2.17 to 1.55, which was when the MAMO molar fraction present in the VPi‐containing copolymers varied from zero (pure PVPi) to approximately 9 mol %. We also observed that the thermal stability of the copolymers decreased slightly when the MAMO concentration increased in the reaction medium. Despite this minor drawback, polymer lattices with a high colloidal stability were formed at a high rate of polymerization, and the elevated conversion was within the interval 90–100%. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 44129.