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Effects of Operating Conditions on the Copolymerization of Castor Oil Maleate–Styrene by Suspension Polymerization
Author(s) -
Maia Dayanne L. H.,
Fernandes Fabiano A. N.
Publication year - 2019
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.201900017
Subject(s) - copolymer , benzoyl peroxide , castor oil , styrene , polymer chemistry , suspension polymerization , polymerization , molar mass distribution , thermal stability , chemistry , radical polymerization , materials science , organic chemistry , polymer
This work studies the synthesis of copolymers (MACO‐St) of castor oil maleate (MACO) and styrene (St) initiated using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as free radical initiator through suspension polymerization. The study investigates the effects of temperature (100–140 °C), the molar ratio between styrene and MACO (2:1–4:1), BPO concentration (0.10–0.20 wt%), and water concentration (50–100 wt%) on the molecular weight distribution, thermal stability, viscosity, and biodegradability of the copolymers. Suspension polymerization allows the production of a broad range of number average molecular weight (3465–18 995 g mol −1 ) and molecular weight distributions with dispersions ( Đ ) ranging from 1.8 to 4.4. The reaction presents high yields of castor oil into copolymers (>90%), which displays thermal stability up to 200 °C and are highly biodegradable according to the International Organization of Standardization reference.