Semibatch emulsion copolymerization of butyl acrylate and glycidyl methacrylate: Effect of operating variables

Semibatch emulsion copolymerization was carried out to prepare poly(butyl acrylate‐co‐glycidyl methacrylate) latexes at 75°C, using potassium persulfate as an initiator, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate as an emulsifier and sodium bicarbonate as a buffer. The reaction was conducted in three stages; a further stage (called the steady stage, 2 h) was added to the traditionally stages (i.e., feed and seed stages) to improve considerably the monomer conversion. The monomer conversion and particle size distribution were studied by gravimetric and laser light scattering methods, respectively. The effects of variables such as agitation speed, emulsifier concentration, initiator concentration, feeding rate and comonomers ratio were fully investigated based on the monomer conversion‐time profiles and the particle size distribution to find the optimized copolymerization conditions. Increasing the agitation speed had a negative effect on the monomer conversion, but reduced coagulation of polymer particles. Monomer conversion could be improved by increasing the initiator or emulsifier contents. Feeding rate increased the polymer particle size sharply; however, it showed no significant effect on conversion. The final conversions were as high as 97–99% and they were recognized to be independent of the comonomers ratios employed. Morphological studies by scanning electron microscopy showed nano‐sized isolated particles which were partially aggregated. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Mechanistic aspects of sonochemical copolymerization of butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate

This paper attempts to get a physical insight into the sonochemical emulsion copolymerization using butyl acrylate (BA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) as model monomers at low to moderate ultrasound intensity. The principal physical mechanism underlying beneficial effects of ultrasound on emulsion polymerization system is cavitation, which affects the system in both chemical (i.e. generation of radicals that can initiate/propagate polymerization process) as well as physical (i.e. emulsification of reaction mixture) way. By taking dual approach of coupling experiments with simulations of cavitation bubble dynamics, we have tried to justify the trends in experiments results. The role of cavitation in the present study is found to be only physical. Quite interestingly, the chemical effect of cavitation is found to have no role to play. Reactivity ratios of both monomers for applied experimental conditions have been found to be less than 1, which hints at moderately alternating behavior of copolymerization. Theoretically calculated copolymer composition using the reactivity ratios of copolymers matched well with experimental values. The copolymer composition for all monomer feed ratios is rich in MMA, due to higher reactivity of MMA than BA. The molecular weight of the copolymer reduced with greater fraction of MMA in the reaction mixture. This effect is attributed to nature of termination of the BA (i.e., combination) and MMA (i.e., disproportionation) monomer radicals.     

Study on soapless emulsion copolymerization methyl methacrylate and n-butyl acrylate

The soapless emulsion copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and n-butyl acrylate (n-BuA) at four levels of monomer feed composition (f₁₀) was studied. Conversion (X), average particle diameter (D_p), molecular weight distribution (MWD), surface charge density, and glass transition temperature (T_g) of the copolymer as a function of reaction time (t) were measured. The copolymers obtained even at low conversion, except for the run of (f₁₀) = 90 wt. percent MMA, exhibit two T_gs in their DSC thermograms. Phase separation is found to occur in the latex particles during polymerization. The heterogeneous distribution of monomers in particles, in which a relatively rich MMA region exists in the shell and a relatively rich n-BuA region exists in the core of the particles, is assumed to arise from phase separation. The average copolymer composition and the fraction of the two domains are estimated. The polymerizatrion course and particle size growth follow the linear X vs. t² and D_p^3/2 vs. t relationships, respectively. Although the coagulation of particles happens after around 30 percent conversion, the polymerization behaviors, except for increasing rates, are not affected.     

甲基丙烯酸甲酯与丙烯酸正丁酯乳液聚合的研究

以甲基丙烯酸甲酯与丙烯酸正丁酯为主要原料,过硫酸铵为引发剂,OP-10、十二烷基硫酸钠(K12)为乳化剂,用乳液聚合法合成了聚丙烯酸酯类共聚乳液,考察了聚合条件对乳液聚合的影响。实验结果表明,在单体、引发剂、水用量一定时,合适的反应条件为乳化剂(OP-10∶K12=1∶1)2%,单体滴加时间以60~90min,80℃反应2h左右。     

Semicontinuous emulsion copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate

Semicontinuous emulsion copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate with a constant rate of feed of monomer emulsion was investigated. The integral composition of the copolymer at the end of the feeding was different from the feed composition, and the difference was proportional to the monomer feeding rate. The closer the feed composition was to the composition at the azeotropic point, the lower was the sensitivity of the system to the feeding rate. At low feeding rates, the copolymerization proceeded at conversions of about 90–95%, and the composition of the copolymer was practically equal to that of the monomer feed. The reactivity ratios determined under these conditions were probably influenced by diffusion inside the growing polymer–monomer particles.     

甲基丙烯酸甲酯-丙烯酸乙酯乳液共聚动力学研究

为了合成适于药物包衣用的甲基丙烯酸甲酯-丙烯酸乙酯(MMA-EA)共聚物胶乳,对以非离子型乳化剂OP-10为乳化剂、过硫酸钾为引发剂的MMA-EA乳液共聚动力学进行了研究。发现初期共聚速率随着乳化剂浓度、引发剂浓度和聚合温度的增加而增大,这是由于共聚物乳胶粒子平均粒径随着乳化剂、引发剂浓度和聚合温度的增加而减小,乳胶粒子数目增加所致。通过调节乳化剂、引发剂以及反应温度可以达到合适的聚合反应速率,最终合成出转化率大于95%的MMA-EA共聚乳液。     

Kinetics studies of two-stage soapless emulsion polymerization of butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate

In this work, butyl acrylate (BA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) were used as monomers and K₂S₂O₈ was used as the initiator to study the kinetics of two-stage soapless emulsion polymerization. The first stage of the reaction was to synthesize polyBA (PBA) seeds, and the second stage of the reaction was a seeded polymerization of MMA. The results showed that an increase of initiator concentration would increase the rate of polymerization and the number of polymer particles, but would decrease the size of the polymer particles and the weight-average molecular weight of the polymers. On the other hand, a decrease of the weight ratio of BA/MMA caused a decrease in the reaction rate and the weight-average molecular weight of the polymers in the second stage of the reaction. The morphology of emulsion particles was observed from transmission election microscopy (TEM). The polymer particles were very uniform in size and showed coreshell morphology with PBA as a core and poly MMA (PMMA) as a shell. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Semicontinuous emulsion copolymerization of ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate at high conversions

Semicontinuous emulsion copolymerization of ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate was studied at conversions higher than 0.9. It was found that, in the cases in which the mole fraction of ethyl acrylate in the reaction mixture was over 0.65, the copolymerization diagram differs from the one given by the reactivity ratios. It was suggested that this deviation was caused by the diffusion control of the process. This suggestion was also supported by the differences in the free-monomer composition of the systems with and without seed latex, respectively, at the beginning of the copolymerization.     

Concentrated emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate/butyl acrylate initiated by a redox system

Stable concentrated emulsions of methyl methacrylate/butyl acrylate were prepared with sodium dodecyl sulfate and cetyl alcohol as the compound surfactant and poly(vinyl alcohol) as the major reinforcer of the liquid film. With a redox system based on benzoyl peroxide/N,N′‐dimethyl phenylamine introduced into the concentrated emulsions, polymer particles with different shapes and sizes were obtained by initiation of the polymerization at low temperatures. We investigated the kinetic behaviors of concentrated emulsion polymerization and drew linear regression diagrams of its time–conversion curves in a constant rate phase (conversions ranged from 20 to 70%), and the experimental results show that the variation of the concentrations of the compound surfactant and initiator, the categories of reinforcers of the liquid film, the temperatures, and so on were responsible for the polymerization stability and the polymerization rate. Finally, the kinetics equation and activation energy of the initiator were obtained. The particle size and distribution of particle diameters of latex particles were determined by photon correlation spectroscopy. The determination results reveal that concentrations of the compound surfactant, polymerization temperatures, and so on affected the shape and size of the polymer particles greatly. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 97: 1695–1701, 2005     

Semibatch emulsion polymerization of butyl acrylate. II. Effects of emulsifier distribution

The effects of emulsifier distribution ratio between the initial charge and the feed on particle formation and kinetics of butyl acrylate emulsion polymerization, using sodium lauryl sulfate as emulsifier and potassium persulfate as initiator, were investigated. The number of particles increased with initial emulsifier concentration in the reactor charge. It was shown that traditional ranking, in terms of number of particles produced, of semibatch emulsion polymerization with monomer emulsion feed is not always justified and a semibatch emulsion polymerization can produce far more particles than a conventional batch emulsion polymerization. The number of polymer particles was found to be practically independent of the emulsifier distribution ratio between the charge and the feed for a high overall emulsifier concentration, while for a low overall emulsifier concentration, the number of particles increased with initial loading of the emulsifier. The polydispersity index (PDI) of the final latexes showed a minimum with emulsifier distribution. A bimodal particle size distribution, and a latex with a large PDI, was obtained when there was no emulsifier in the charge. As the initial emulsifier charge increased, a unimodal PSD with a smaller PDI was obtained. With higher proportions of emulsifier in the initial charge, the PDI rose again due to particle nucleation at monomer‐starved conditions, and a skewed unimodal PSD was obtained. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 79: 582–597, 2001     

Semibatch emulsion polymerization of butyl acrylate. I. Effect of monomer distribution

The effects of initial monomer charge on the particle formation and on the rate of polymerization were investigated for semibatch emulsion polymerization of butyl acrylate using sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as a surfactant and potassium persulfate (KPS) as an initiator. For the semibatch process with monomer (M) feed, it was found that by varying the monomer distribution ratio between the initial reactor charge and the feed it is possible to alter the contribution of monomer‐flooded and monomer‐starved nucleation mechanisms to the whole nucleation process. The number of particles increases as the initial monomer charge decreases, if the monomer concentration is below a critical value for any fixed system. The increase in number of particles is associated with a broad particle‐size distribution which might depict an emerging second peak on the particle‐size distribution curve. For low emulsifier concentration systems, a larger number of particles was obtained for a lower amount of monomer charge. Particle coagulation and emulsifier adsorption on the monomer droplets were counted as the main reasons for such behavior. For a semibatch process with monomer emulsion (ME) feed, the larger number of particles was formed at a lower initial monomer charge, similar to an M‐add semibatch process. However, the application of monomer charge to an ME‐add process was found to increase the possibility of secondary nucleation and led to the occurrence of a bimodal particle‐size distribution. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 74: 3094–3110, 1999     

Emulsifier-free emulsion copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate with cationic comonomer

Emulsifier-free emulsion copolymerization of styrene (St) and butyl acrylate (BA) in the presence of a cationic functional comonomer, N-dimethyl, N-butyl, N-ethyl methacrylate ammonium bromine (DBMA) was carried out using azobis(isobutyl-amidine hydrochloride) (AIBA) as an initiator. The surface properties of particles were studied by testing the actual value of on the surface of the particles and the surface charge density. The copolymer particles were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effects of reaction temperature, DBMA content, AIBA content, ionic strength, etc., on the conversion of the monomer and the average diameter (D¯w) and number (Np) of copolymer particles were investigated. Under constant ionic strength, the average diameter of copolymer particles (D¯w) decreased with increasing AIBA and DBMA concentrations and decreased with increasing reaction temperature also. Moreover, it increased with increasing St content in the monomer feeding. Under a constant concentration of the co-monomer and initiator as well as the constant monomer composition, D¯w shows a change process of increase-decrease-increase in the ionic strength plot. The polymerization reaction rate increased with increasing the DBMA content, AIBA content, and increasing temperature. The surface charge properties of the particles were mainly decided by the DBMA content, AIBA content, ionic strength, etc. The methods of feeding the monomer affects the morphology, structure, size, and surface charge density of the particles. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 66: 1–9, 1997      

Semicontinuous emulsion copolymerization of acrylonitrile,butyl acrylate,and styrene

Semicontinuous emulsion copolymerization of acrylonitrile (M₁), butyl acrylate (M₂), and styrene (M₃) was investigated. The copolymerization proceeded under the conditions used with a high degree of conversion, whereby a stationary state characterized by a constant monomer mixture composition and a constant composition of the arising copolymer was achieved. From the analytically estimated free monomers and arising copolymer compositions, the reactivity ratios for the pair AN/BA r₁₂ = 0.71, r₂₁ = 1.17 and for the pair AN/Sty r₁₃ = 0.06, r₃₁ = 0.28 were calculated. The applicability of the reactivity ratios found was verified also for the ternary system acrylonitrile/butyl acrylate/styrene.     

Semi-continuous emulsion copolymerization of butyl methacrylate with polymerizable anionic surfactants

Two polymerizable anionic surfactants sodium 4-(ω-acryloyloxyalkyl)oxy benzene sulfonate (SABS-n, n=8 or 10) have been successfully used in the semi-continuous emulsion copolymerization with butyl methacrylate (BMA). After generating seeding particles in an emulsion consisting SABS-8 or SABS-10 and small amount of BMA using a redox initiator ammonium persulfate (APS)/tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) at room temperature, most of BMA was added drop-wise to the polymerizing emulsion system during a period of 4-8 h. These emulsion copolymerizations produced nanosized latexes with high polymer/surfactant weight ratios up to about 12/1 and nearly monodisperse particles ranging from 18 to 33 nm in diameter. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed that SABS-n was significantly enriched on the surface of latex particles. The effects of concentrations of SABS-n, BMA, and APS/TMEDA and the latex characteristics during the continuous addition of monomer were studied. A possible polymerization mechanism was proposed.     

Radical polymerization of butyl acrylate and random copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate and styrene and methyl methacrylate mediated by monospiro- and dispiropiperidinyl-N-oxyl radicals

Radical polymerization of butyl acrylate (BA) and random copolymerizations of styrene (St) and BA and St and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of 7-aza-15-hydroxydispiro[5.1.5.3]hexadecane-7-yloxyl (1) and 1-aza-2,2-dimethyl-4-hydroxyspiro[5.6]dodecane-1-yloxyl (2) were carried out. Radical polymerization of BA at 120 °C in the presence of 1 gave poly(BA) with M_n=20200 and M_w/M_n=1.30 at 23% conversion. The termination of polymerization observed around ∼20% conversion was solved to a certain extent by an addition of small amounts of dicumyl peroxide, and poly(BA) with M_n=37400 and M_w/M_n=1.33 was obtained in 46% yield. Random copolymerizations of St and BA and St and MMA in the presence of 1 and 2 at 80 °C gave the corresponding random copolymers with narrow polydispersities of 1.12-1.38 at the molar fraction above 0.30 of St in feed. The kinetic study for the NO-C bond homolysis of the corresponding alkoxyamines prepared from 1 and 2 were carried out, and evaluation of the preexponential factors (A_act) and the activation parameters (E_act) showed that the steric factors of the nitroxides are reflected mainly on E_act.     

Synthesis and characterization of butyl acrylate/methyl methacrylate/glycidyl methacrylate latexes

The butyl acrylate (BA)/methyl methacrylate (MMA), and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) composite copolymer latex was synthesized by seeded emulsion polymerization technique taking poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) latex as the seed. Four series of experiments were carried out by varying the ratio of BA : MMA (w/w) (i.e. 3.1 : 1, 2.3 : 1, 1.8 : 1, and 1.5 : 1) and in each series GMA content was varied from 1 to 5% (w/w). The structural properties of the copolymer were analyzed by FTIR, ¹H‐, and ¹³C‐NMR. Morphological characterization was carried out using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In all the experiments, monomer conversion was ～99% and final copolymer composition was similar to that of feed composition. The incorporation of GMA into the copolymer chain was confirmed by ¹³C‐NMR. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the copolymer latex obtained from the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curve was comparable to the values calculated theoretically. With increase in GMA content, particles having core‐shell morphology were obtained, and there was a decrease in the particle size as we go from 2–5% (w/w) of GMA. The adhesive strength of the latexes was found to be dependent on the monomer composition. With increase in BA : MMA ratio, the tackiness of the film increased while with its decrease the hardness of the film increased. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

A re-evaluation of the reactivity ratios of 3-vinyl thiopene in copolymerization with butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate

Summary The reactivity ratios of 3-vinyl thiophene in copolymerization with n-butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate were determined by using a nonlinear least squares error-in-variables method coupled with an experimental design scheme. The values obtained were found to be significantly different than those previously reported.     

Grafting of butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate on butyl rubber using electron beam radiation

Being nonpolar in nature, butyl rubber (IIR) has poor compatibility toward polar polymers and fillers. It can be improved by grafting polar substrates on the butyl elastomer. Radiation‐induced polymer processing is getting increasing interest, as it leads to new and improved polymers with desirable and interesting properties. In this investigation, electron beam radiation has been used to graft methyl methacrylate (MMA) and butyl acrylate (BA) on IIR. This process has several advantages over conventional grafting processes such as cationic polymerization (which needs very low temperature and stringent reaction conditions) and solution radical polymerization (which often needs solvent removal and recycling). The grafted polymers were characterized by using ¹H NMR, IR, TGA, and SEM analysis. The degree of grafting increases with a decrease in irradiation dose as well as with an increase in monomer concentration. It was observed that there was a decrease in intrinsic viscosity in irradiated IIR samples, indicating the chain scission. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 1340–1346, 2006     

MMA/N-对甲苯基马来酰亚胺乳液共聚的研究

通过乳液共聚得到N－对甲苯基马来酰亚胺（NPTMI）,甲基丙烯酸甲酯（MMA）的二元共聚物,用扭辫分析,热重分析和维卡软化点测定仪研究了不同NPTMI含量对共聚物热性能的影响,以及共聚物的力学性能,流变性能,研究结果表明,共聚物初始分解温度（Tini),失重50％时的温度,玻璃化转变温度（Tg)及维卡软化点（TViout)都随NPTMI的含量增加而提高,当NPTMI含量为15％时,Tg提高14．1℃,Tini提高23．2℃,TVicut提高8．9℃,工聚物熔体呈假塑性流体,同时共聚物熔体非牛顿指数随NPTMI含量的增加而增大。     

粒径可控的聚丙烯酸丁酯/聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯核壳乳液的制备及表征

采用种子乳液聚合法制备了聚丙烯酸丁酯(PBA)乳液,然后通过第二单体甲基丙烯酸甲酯的预溶胀法聚合制备了PBA/聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)乳液,用激光散射粒度仪和透射电子显微镜对乳液粒径和结构进行了表征.结果表明,当乳化剂十二烷基硫酸钠质量分数为丙烯酸丁酯的1.5%时,可制备粒径为53.6 nm且分布窄的PBA种子乳液;通过调整补加乳化剂、单体与种子乳液的用量,可制得粒径为53.6～443.8 nm的一系列单分散PBA乳液;PBA/PMMA乳液具有完善的核壳结构,且在核壳两相间存在着一个过渡层.