Monosize poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butyl acrylate)
rubbery nanoparticles, approximately 95 nm in diameter, containing
iodine and triiodide with a molar ratio of 2.78 of the former to the
latter, were synthesized by emulsion polymerization. Iodine and the
two-monomer mixture were polymerized by sodium metabisulfite and potassium
persulfate as a redox initiation system. Iodine evolution to triiodide
during the copolymerization was traced by ultraviolet–visible
spectroscopy. Iodine addition to the monomer mixture and its copolymerization
not only reduced the copolymer average molecular weight by 30%, but
also led to the formation of more MMA-enriched chains. The redox initiation
system also changed 26% of initial iodine molecules into triiodide,
while the rest were encapsulated as molecular iodine. During thermal
annealing, the lower rate of triiodide decomposition into iodine and
iodide in comparison with the iodine evaporation rate broadened both
thermogravimetric and heat flow curves.