Convenient method for removing and concentrating hydrophobic organic compounds from water with amphiphilic polymers

A stable fluoroacrylate copolymer emulsion was successfully prepared by miniemulsion polymerization with fluoroacrylate, lauryl methylacrylate, and methyl methacrylate as monomers. Extremely hydrophobic fluoroacrylate, instead of conventional cosurfactants, was used as a reactive cosurfactant to stabilize the miniemulsions. The results indicated that fluoroacrylate retarded Ostwald ripening and allowed the production of stable miniemulsions. The chemical compositions of the copolymer were studied with Fourier transform infrared and ¹H‐NMR. The average composition of the copolymers prepared with miniemulsions was in good agreement with the feed ratio according to ¹H‐NMR from the integration ratios corresponding to typical protons of the individual monomers. The particle size distribution and morphology of the latex particles were determined with laser particle analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The particle size of the latex underwent no change in the process of miniemulsion polymerization, but the particle size distributions were broader than those of conventional emulsion polymerization. The effects of various reaction parameters, including the temperature and concentrations of the emulsifier and initiator, on the miniemulsion polymerization were also investigated, and the polymerization rate and conversion increased with increasing concentrations of nonylphenol polyethoxylate (with an average of 40 ethylene oxide units per molecule), cetyltrimethylammonium, and 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 641–647, 2007