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Miniemulsion Copolymerization of Ethylene and Vinyl Acetate
Author(s) -
Guo Juchen,
Choi Kyu Yong,
Schork F. Joseph
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular reaction engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1862-8338
pISSN - 1862-832X
DOI - 10.1002/mren.200900023
Subject(s) - miniemulsion , vinyl acetate , monomer , copolymer , polymer chemistry , polymerization , ethylene , emulsion , emulsion polymerization , materials science , chemistry , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , polymer , catalysis , engineering
Abstract The copolymerizations of a gaseous monomer (ethylene) and a liquid monomer (vinyl acetate) via emulsion and miniemulsion polymerizations are reported. Reactions in which the vinyl acetate was introduced in both batch and semibatch modes are carried out. (Ethylene introduction is always in a semibatch model since the polymerization is carried out under a constant pressure of ethylene in the reactor headspace.) The results are compared, drawing the conclusion that miniemulsion copolymerization has an advantage over conventional emulsion polymerization for monomers with very low water solubility (including gaseous monomers) due to their nucleation in monomer droplets without transport through the aqueous phase.