Dispersion polymerization of acrylamide was carried out in the media of methyl alcohol/H 2 O mixtures using hydroxypropyl cellulose and ammonium persulfate as steric stabilizer and initiator, respectively. The effects of concentrations of initiator and steric stabilizer, amount of monomer, polymerization temperature, methyl alcohol/ H 2 O ratio, and purification of monomer and nitrogen purge on the particle size of the latices and molecular weight of the polymers were investigated. The average particle diameter increased with increasing concentration of initiator, water content in methyl alcohol/H 2 O media, and polymerization temperature, but decreased with monomer and stabilizer concentrations. The viscosity average molecular weight increased with increasing concentrations of monomer, steric stabilizer, and water content in dispersion media, but decreased with initiator concentration and polymerization temperature. The PAM polymers prepared with the purified monomer and the nitrogen purging before the reaction showed the highest molecular weight.

In our previous publication, the problem of particle deformation and coagulation at the nucleation stage in the presence of cross-linker was intensely studied by seeded batch dispersion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA). In the present work, highly cross-linked, monodisperse PMMA particles were prepared under various reaction conditions by seeded semi-continuous process. Monodisperse, 6.5 μm-diameter PMMA particles containing up to 8 wt% of DVB or EGDMA were successfully made by seeded semi-continuous process and multisemi-continuous addition process, respectively. Therefore, this study shows that seeded semi-continuous process is more effective and efficient to prepare highly cross-linked, monodisperse particles than non-seeded and seeded batch processes.

We have performed dispersion polymerization of acrylamide in tert-butyl alcohol/water mixture-using hydroxypropyl cellulose and ammonium persulfate as the stabilizer and the initiator, respectively-to study the effects that the concentration of monomer, initiator, and stabilizer, the tert-butyl alcohol/water ratios as polymerization media, and the reaction temperature have on, among other things, the polymerization kinetics, particle sizes, and molecular weights. The polymerization rate increased upon increasing the concentration of the monomer, initiator, and stabilizer, the water content in the tert-butyl alcohol/water media, and the polymerization temperature. The average particle size of the lattices increased upon increasing the concentration of initiator, the polymerization temperature, and the water content in the tert-butyl alcohol/water media, but it decreased upon increasing the concentration of monomer and stabilizer. The viscosity-average molecular weight increased upon increasing the concentration of monomer and stabilizer and the water content in the tert-butyl alcohol/water media, but it decreased upon increasing both the concentration of initiator and the polymerization temperature.

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