Effect of monomer water solubility on cationic microemulsion polymerization of three components (water, surfactant, and monomer)

Abstract

Here, we present the oil/water (O/W) microemulsion polymerization in three‐component microemulsions of n‐butyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, and methyl acrylate, monomers with similar chemical structures but different water solubilities using the cationic surfactant dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide. The effects of monomer water solubility, initiator type and initial monomer concentration on the polymerization kinetics were studied. Reaction rates were high with final conversions between 70 and 98% depending on the monomer and reaction conditions. The final latexes were bluish, with a particle size ranging between 20 and 50 nm and polymer with molar masses in the order of 106 g mol−1. Increasing monomer water solubility resulted in a slower reaction rate, larger particles and a lower number density of particles. A higher reaction rate, larger average particle size and higher particle number density were obtained by increasing the monomer concentration. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011

Preparation and evaluation of modified bisphenol‐A‐glycidyl methacrylate resin dental adhesive to zirconia

“…The solubility of the material is related to the monomer conversion rate. [ 36 ] The increase in the monomer conversion rate will reduce the solubility of the material. This result is also consistent with our analysis of the conversion rate of the double bond (Figure 4).…”

Mass Transfer in Miniemulsion Polymerisation

“…The water solubilities of MMA (0.15 M, 25 °C) and BA (0.015 M, 25 °C) are orders of magnitude higher than the aforementioned water solubilities of TBS and LMA. With a difference in homopolymer glass transition temperature of approximately 150 °C, MMA and BA serve as an excellent reference pair since monomer transport by diffusion is likely to occur.…”

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