RAFT miniemulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate

It has been well documented that RAFT miniemulsion polymerization has broader molecular weight distribution, compared with its bulk polymerization counterpart. Interestingly, it was found that the PDI value of RAFT miniemulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) mediated by 2-cyranoprop-2-yl dithiobenzoate (CPDB) was still as low as its corresponding bulk polymerization did. PDI could be as low as 1.13 even with typical sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, 1 wt%, surfactant) and n-hexadecane (HD, 2 wt%, costablizer) concentrations. When the polymerization was carried out at 60 °C, a dramatic increase in PDI (>1.4) was observed after 80% monomer conversion since RAFT addition reaction became diffusion-controlled. Increasing the polymerization temperature to 80 °C could reduce the PDI to 1.2 even at 100% monomer conversion. The compartmentalization effect of radicals was surprisingly absence before 30% monomer conversion but became pronounced afterwards in the miniemulsion polymerization. Thus, it still took less time to finish the miniemulsion polymerization with the increase of the surfactant levels.     

Emulsion Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate Using a Surface-active RAFT agent: The Role of Surfactant

Summary This article deals with the living radical emulsion photopolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) using a RAFT agent which plays the role of an initiator in the absence of an additional thermal initiator, a chain-transfer agent, and a surfactant. The mechanism of the formation of stable spherical polymer beads without coagulation in the absence of a surfactant and the effects of the added surfactant are studied. The molecular weights of the prepared PMMA beads are in the same range (M_n: 10⁵ - 10⁶ g/mol) as those obtained from a conventional emulsion polymerization. However, the molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n; polydispersity index; PDI) is controlled to be less than 2.0. The polymer beads in diameter was significantly reduced from 300 nm without a surfactant to decreased to 50 nm upon the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) keeping the molecular weight and the molecular weight distribution constant. Also, the addition of SDS in the preparation of PMMA colloid results in the enhancement of the stability by exhibiting increased -potential values in water     

大分子链转移剂控制下的苯乙烯RAFT细乳液聚合

以十二烷基硫酸钠为乳化剂,十八烷基甲基丙烯酸酯为助乳化剂,偶氮二异丁腈为引发剂,本体聚合得到的大分子链转移剂控制苯乙烯RAFT细乳液聚合,考察聚合过程中动力学、粒径及温度对其的影响,发现聚合过程符合活性/可控自由基聚合一般规律且乳液较稳定,随反应温度升高反应速度加快。     

乙烯基硅橡胶为助乳化剂的MMA/BA细乳液共聚合--水溶性引发体系

以十二烷基硫酸钠为乳化剂，乙烯基硅橡胶为助乳化剂、过硫酸铵为引发剂，研究了甲基丙烯酸甲酯和丙烯酸丁酯的细乳液共聚合反应。结果表明，温度、助乳化剂分子量、助乳化剂浓度、乳化剂浓度、引发剂浓度、不同助乳化剂对聚合反应速率和聚合物颗粒大小均有影响，对常规乳液聚合与细乳液聚合的差异进行了比较，并测定了聚合物胶乳的耐盐稳定性。     

Double‐miniemulsion preparation of Fe3O4/poly(methyl methacrylate) magnetic latex

Magnetic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microspheres were prepared by double‐miniemulsion polymerization. First, oleic acid coated magnetite particles synthesized by means of coprecipitation were dispersed into octane to obtain a ferrofluid. The ferrofluid and MMA were emulsified to form O/W emulsion, respectively. Subsequently two miniemulsions were mixed together for polymerization. The obtained magnetic polymer particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray powder diffraction, and thermogravimetry. The results showed that oleic acid coated magnetite particles were well encapsulated in PMMA. The effects of initiator dosage and monomer concentration on the conversion of MMA were also investigated. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯预聚物作为助稳定剂的细乳液聚合速率研究

以聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)预聚物为助稳定剂、十二烷基硫酸钠为乳化剂、十六醇为助乳化剂和过硫酸钾为引发剂,研究甲基丙烯酸甲酯(MMA)的细乳液聚合反应速率.考察乳化剂浓度、助乳化剂浓度、引发剂浓度、预聚物浓度、预聚物分子量以及反应温度对聚合速率的影响.结果表明:聚合速率RP随着乳化剂浓度或反应温度的提高而增加,随着助乳化剂浓度的提高而减小,引发剂浓度对RP影响不明显.在相同条件下,加入预聚物的细乳液体系聚合速率RP在聚合反应前期比常规细乳液有明显提高:PMMA(MH=520000)浓度为2×10-3mmol·L-1时,RP的最大峰值为1.84×10-2mol·L-1·min-1.预聚物PMMA在MMA细乳液聚合体系中,可以提高聚合速率和增加体系稳定性.     

Kinetics of emulsifier–free emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate

The influences of polymerization temperature, initiator and monomer concentrations, ionic strength of the aqueous phase, as well as ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDM) co-monomer, on the kinetics of the emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and on the properties of the resulting poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) lattices were studied. The polymerizations were carried out using potassium persulfate (KPS) as the initiator. Monodisperse PMMA lattices with particle diameters varying between 0.14–0.37 μm and polymer molecular weights of the order 0.4 × 10⁶ to 1.2 × 10⁶ g/mol were prepared. The initial rate of polymerization increases with increasing temperature, KPS-MMA mole ratio, EGDM content, or with decreasing ionic strength of the aqueous phase. It was shown that the bead size can be limited by reducing the monomer concentration or by using the cross-linking agent EGDM. The ionic strength of the aqueous phase has a dominant effect on final particle diameter and polymer molecular weight. The uniformity of the latex particles increases as the temperature increases or as the initiator concentration decreases. The experimental results can be reasonably interpreted by the homogeneous nucleation mechanism of the emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization of MMA. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

PMMA/PAN核-壳粒子制备工艺研究

加入适量的引发剂,通过无皂乳液聚合,以聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯( PMMA)核体为种子乳液,制备了PMMA/PAN核-壳乳液.实验中分别对引发剂量、丙稀腈( AN)滴加量对PMMA/PAN壳层厚度及其粒径和粒径分布的影响进行了较详细的研究,确定了种子乳液聚合法制备PMMA/PAN核-壳结构聚合物粒子的实验方法及条件.通过激光粒度仪、扫描电镜和透射电镜对核-壳粒子的形态结构进行了表征,证明了PMMA/PAN复合粒子的核-壳结构.     

苯乙烯-甲基丙烯酸甲酯悬浮-乳液耦合聚合动力学

采用苯乙烯(St)悬浮聚合过程滴加甲基丙烯酸甲酯(MMA)乳液聚合组分,进行悬浮-乳液耦合聚合(SECP), 制备大粒径聚苯乙烯-聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PS-PMMA)复合粒子.采用¹H NMR分析方法,讨论了SECP动力学特征.St的SECP聚合速率和转化率与悬浮聚合一致;MMA聚合速率决定于乳胶粒子聚合速度和凝并在悬浮粒子表面的速度,聚合速率比常规乳液聚合速率低.由于凝并在悬浮粒子表面的PMMA乳胶粒子不再有乳液聚合特征,MMA在SECP中转化率低于同条件常规乳液聚合.分别得到乳化剂和引发剂浓度与SECP和普通乳液聚合恒速段聚合速率的关系.     

Photo‐Induced atom transfer radical polymerization with nanosized α‐Fe2O3 as photoinitiator

Photo‐induced atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was achieved in poly(ethylene glycol)‐400 with nanosized α‐Fe₂O₃ as photoinitiator. Well‐defined poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was synthesized in conjunction with ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate (EBiB) as ATRP initiator and FeCl₃·6H₂O/Triphenylphosphine (PPh₃) as complex catalyst. The photo‐induced polymerization of MMA proceeded in a controlled/living fashion. The polymerization followed first‐order kinetics. The obtained PMMA had moderately controlled number‐average molecular weights in accordance with the theoretical number‐average molecular weights, as well as narrow molecular weight distributions (M_w/M_n). In addition, the polymerization could be well controlled by periodic light‐on–off processes. The resulting PMMA was characterized by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance and gel permeation chromatography. The brominated PMMA was used further as macroinitiator in the chain‐extension with MMA to verify the living nature of photo‐induced ATRP of MMA. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42389.     

Synthesis and characterization of PMMA/SiO2 organic–inorganic hybrid materials via RAFT‐mediated miniemulsion polymerization

In this article, we first carried out the surface modification of SiO₂ using silane coupling agent KH570, and then prepared PMMA/SiO₂ organic–inorganic hybrid materials by conventional free radical polymerization and RAFT polymerization in miniemulsion, respectively. The kinetics comparisons of these two polymerizations were studied. PMMA/SiO₂ hybrid materials were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. Experimental results indicated that the polymerization behavior of MMA in miniemulsion showed controlled/living radical polymerization characteristics under the control of RAFT agent. Incorporation of RAFT agent and SiO₂ nanoparticles improved the thermal properties of polymers, the thermal stability of polymers increased with increasing content of SiO₂ nanoparticles. The structures and morphologies of SiO₂, modified SiO₂, and PMMA/SiO₂ hybrid materials were characterized by FT‐IR and TEM. TEM results showed that the addition of modified SiO₂ nanoparticles to miniemulsion polymerization system obtained different morphology latex particles. Most of modified SiO₂ nanoparticles were wrapped by polymer matrix after polymerization. POLYM. COMPOS., 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Comparison of styrene reversible addition–fragmentation chain‐transfer polymerization in a miniemulsion system stabilized by ammonlysis poly(styrene‐alt‐maleic anhydride) and sodium dodecyl sulfate

In this study, we conducted the reversible addition–fragmentation chain‐transfer (RAFT) polymerization of styrene (St) in a miniemulsion system stabilized by two different stabilizers, ammonlysis poly(styrene‐alt‐maleic anhydride) (SMA) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), with identical reaction conditions. The main objective was to compare the polymerization kinetics, living character, latex stability, and particle morphology. The macro‐RAFT agent used in both systems was SMA, which was obtained by RAFT solution polymerization mediated by 1‐phenylethyl phenyldithioacetate. The experimental results show that the St RAFT miniemulsion polymerization stabilized by SDS exhibited a better living character than that stabilized by ammonlysis SMA. The final latices were very stable in two systems, but different stabilizers had an obvious effect on the polymerization kinetics, living character, and particle morphology. All of the particles obtained by RAFT miniemulsion polymerization stabilized by SDS were solid, but an obvious core–shell structure was observed in the miniemulsion system stabilized by ammonlysis SMA. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

RAFT‐mediated emulsion polymerization of chloroprene and impact of chain‐end structure on chloroprene rubbers

The reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of chloroprene (CP) in an emulsion system using a dithiocarbamate‐type RAFT agent was studied. The controlled RAFT‐mediated emulsion polymerization was achieved by the appropriate combination of a RAFT agent and nonionic surfactant (polyoxyethylene phenyl ether) using a water‐soluble initiator (VA‐044) at 35 °C. An almost linear first‐order kinetic plot was observed until relatively high conversion (>80%) with molecular weights between 22,300 and 33,100 and relatively narrow molecular weight distributions (M_w/M_n ≦ 1.5) were achieved. The amount of the emulsifier used and the pH of the system were found to affect the controlled character, polymerization rate, and induction period, which are related to the size of the emulsion particles. Large‐scale RAFT‐mediated emulsion polymerization was also employed to afford industrially applicable poly(CP) (M_w > 25 × 10⁴, resulting product > 2300 g). The vulcanized CP rubber obtained from the RAFT‐synthesized poly(CP) exhibited better physical properties, particularly tensile modulus and compression set, which may be due to the presence of the reactive end groups and the absence of low‐molecular‐weight products. We also evaluated the impact of the chain‐end structure on the mechanical and physical properties of these industrially important CP rubbers with carbon black. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46008.     

Photo-induced controlled radical polymerization with new Photocatalyst

Photo-induced electron transfer reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (PET RAFT) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was investigated at 25 °C with rose bengal (4,5,6,7-tetrachloro-2′,4′,5′,7′-tetraiodofluorescein) (RB) as photoredox catalyst under visible light irradiation. The traditional chain transfer agent 4-cyanopentanoic acid dithiobenzoate (CPADB) was employed in this study. The kinetic curve of the photo-induced PET RAFT polymerization exhibited a good linear behavior. The number average molecular weights (M_n,GPC) of the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) increased linearly with respect to monomer consumption and they were in good agreement with the calculated values (M_n,th). At the same time the molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n) was narrow. Temporal control of PET RAFT polymerization of MMA was demonstrated by “ON/OFF” experiments. The resulting PMMA was characterized by ¹H–NMR, and GPC. The resultant PMMA could be used as macro-chain transfer agents for the PET RAFT radical polymerization. The chain experiments were successfully carried out and the living characteristics were demonstrated. The probable mechanism was discussed.     

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.     

Effects of mesoporous silica particles on the emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate

Rod‐like and spherical mesoporous SBA‐15 silica particles were synthesized as pure silicas and surface modified by organosilane coupling agents firstly, and then the effects of these mesoporous materials on the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), the stabilities of batch and semi‐continuous MMA emulsion polymerizations, and the molecular weights and molecular weight distributions of the polymer products were studied. The incorporation of both unmodified and silane‐modified forms of the mesoporous silica particles in the polymerization reaction increased the CMC of SDS. The presence of the unmodified mesoporous silica in the polymerization process led to instability in the batch emulsion polymerization process, as indicated by the formation of increased amounts of coagulum, and a decrease in the molecular weight of the polymer product. However, in comparison to the polymer formed in the absence of particle additives the molecular weight of the PMMA polymer increased with the amount of emulsifier and the addition of silane‐modified SBA‐15 particles, suggesting the growth of the polymer chains is facilitated at least in part by reaction in the pores of the particles. The improvement in molecular weight indicates that semi‐continuous MMA emulsion polymerization is best suited for the preparation of PMMA–mesoporous silica composites. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2746–2752, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Synthesis of triblock copolymer having alternating structures and kinetics study on RAFT‐mediated bulk,miniemulsion and seed miniemulsion polymerizations

We have conducted reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerizations of styrene (St) and maleic anhydride (MAh) and n‐butyl acrylate (BA) to produce a well‐defined triblock copolymer having alternating structure, P(St‐alt‐MAh)‐b‐PSt‐b‐PBA, via bulk, miniemulsion and seed miniemulsion polymerizations. The polymerization kinetics and living characters were investigated. The results followed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) showed that bulk and miniemulsion polymerizations exhibited controlled nature such as narrow polydispersity index (PDI), controlled molecular weight, and first‐order polymerization kinetics, whereas triblock copolymer owned a rather wider PDI. Comparison of GPC RI and UV traces revealed that alternating copolymer and diblock copolymer have a very high percentage of living chains. For seed miniemulsion polymerization, when the molecular weight of triblock copolymer is more than 36,000 g/mol, the formation of homopolymer of BA resulted in broadening of PDI. ¹H NMR method was used to identify the compositions of block copolymers. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis showed that the copolymers exhibited distinct glass temperatures. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers     

基于细乳液聚合法TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子的制备及其性能

采用细乳液聚合法制备了二氧化钛/聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯（TiO2/PMMA）纳米复合粒子,考察了引发剂、助乳化剂、乳化剂、单体结构和种类对TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子性能的影响。结果表明与十二醇和十六醇相比,十六烷（HD）更能抑制甲基丙烯酸甲酯（MMA）液滴的Ostwald熟化效应,当MMA占TiO2质量分数的60%,HD对单体质量分数的6%,可聚合乳化剂1-烯丙氧基-3-(4-壬基苯酚)-2-丙醇聚氧乙烯(10)醚硫酸铵（DNS-86）占整个体系的质量分数为2%时,制备TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子分散体的粒径为185nm,此时TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子与细乳液粒径差距较小;采用TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子制备白色涂料墨水的稳定性和遮盖力明显优于同等条件下TiO2所制备的涂料墨水。     

Effects of compatibilizing agents in poly(n-butyl acrylate)/poly(methyl methacrylate) composite latexes

Graft copolymers with poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PBA) backbones and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) macromonomer side chains are used as compatibilizing agents for PBA/PMMA composite latexes. The composite latexes are prepared by seeded emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of PBA particles. Graft copolymers were already incorporated into the PBA particles prior to using these particles as seed via miniemulsion (co)polymerization of n-butyl acrylate (BA) in the presence of the macromonomers. Comparison between size averages of composite and seed particles indicates no secondary nucleation of MMA during seeded emulsion polymerization. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations of composite particles show the dependence of particle morphologies with the amount of macromonomer (i.e., mole ratio of macromonomer to BA and molecular weight of macromonomer) in seed latex. The more uniform coverage with the higher amount of macromonomer suggests that graft copolymers decrease the interfacial tension between core and shell layers in the composite particles. Dynamic mechanical analysis of composite latex films indicates the existence of an interphase region between PBA and PMMA. The dynamic mechanical properties of these films are related to the morphology of the composite particles, the arrangement of phases in the films, and the volume of the interphase polymer. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Preparation of polystyrene/poly(methyl methacrylate) core‐shell composite particles by suspension‐emulsion combined polymerization

Suspension‐emulsion combined polymerization process, in which methyl methacrylate (MMA) emulsion polymerization constituents (EPC) were drop wise added to styrene (St) suspension polymerization system, was applied to prepare polystyrene/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS/PMMA) composite particles. The influences of the feeding condition and the composition of EPC on the particle feature of the resulting composite polymer particles were investigated. It was found that PS/PMMA core‐shell composite particles with a narrow particle size distribution and a great size would be formed when the EPC was added at the viscous energy dominated particle formation stage of St suspension polymerization with a suitable feeding rate, whereas St‐MMA copolymer particles or PS/PMMA composite particles with imperfect core‐shell structure would be formed when the EPC was added at the earlier or later stage of St suspension polymerization, respectively. It was also showed that the EPC composition affected the composite particles formation process. The individual latex particles would exist in the final product when the concentrations of MMA monomer, sodium dodecyl sulfate emulsifier, and potassium persulfate initiator were great in the EPC. Considering the feature of St suspension polymerization and the morphology of PS/PMMA composite particles, the formation mechanism of PS/PMMA particles with core‐shell structure was proposed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009