Effects of Surfactant Concentration on Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate and Styrene in Emulsions and Microemulsions

Surfactant concentration effects on the microemulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate

“…For non-polar monomers such as styrene, the reaction rate behavior [9] and particle size evolution [9][10][11] are similar to those typically observed. However, with more hydrophilic monomers, the kinetic behavior is atypical.…”

“…The influence of surfactant concentration on the microemulsion polymerization of non-polar [9][10][11] and polar monomers [12][13][14] has been studied. For non-polar monomers such as styrene, the reaction rate behavior [9] and particle size evolution [9][10][11] are similar to those typically observed.…”

Kinetics and monomer partitioning during polymerization of vinyl acetate in microemulsions stabilized with AOT and n-butanol

“…Gan et al [26] studied the surfactant concentration effects on MMA and Sty homopolymerization in emulsion and microemulsion systems, using as surfactants octadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (OTAC) for MMA polymerizations and tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) for Sty polymerizations. They found a weak dependency of Rp on the surfactant concentration for the emulsion polymerization of MMA (Rp α [OTAC] 0.13 ).…”

Microstructure, Kinetics, and Transport in Oil‐in‐Water Microemulsion Polymerizations

“…The experiments of Gan et al have shown that the maximum rate of conversion occurs at conversions less than 39% when the composition of the initial microemulsion is close to a phase boundary. [8] The phase behavior and microstructure of a microemulsion are closely linked [42] and can be understood qualitatively in terms of the curvature elastic energy of the surfactant-rich film that separates the water and oil (or polymer) domains. [17] On one hand, the swelling of polymer particles by monomer is promoted by the decrease in free energy of the bulk polymer as it is diluted, but on the other hand movement of the monomer to the polymer is opposed by the free energy penalty paid by changing the curvature of the surfactant micelles that are swollen with monomer.…”

“…The high ratio of surface area to volume of the latex nanoparticles and the potential to incorporate functional molecules during the polymerization renders the particles useful for making sensors, [5] biological applications, [6] and conductive films. [7] Several groups have investigated the transition from emulsion to microemulsion polymerizations, [8][9][10][11] and the advantages of microemulsion polymerization have been shown to result from the absence of monomer droplets during the reaction and the segregation of propagating radicals into surfactant-stabilized polymer particles. [11] Figure 1 illustrates the morphologies that occur during a typical oil-in-water microemulsion polymerization that is…”