Acrylic Elastomers, Survey

Abstract

Acrylic elastomers have the ASTM designation ACM for polymers of ethyl acrylate and other acrylates, and ANM for copolymers of ethyl or other acrylates with acrylonitrile. In both cases, the M indicates a polymer having a saturated chain of the polymethylene type. The combination of a saturated backbone with polar side chains results in a class of polymers with very good resistance to heat and oil, including oils containing hypoid additives. Acrylic elastomers also have good resistance to sunlight and ozone. Ethylene–acrylic elastomers are discussed in a separate article. The first acrylic elastomers were homopolymers of either ethyl acrylate or methyl acrylate. Because these had limited utility, particularly for vulcanized applications, various copolymer modifications were developed to improve performance, and there evolved a division of monomers into two types: backbone monomers , which comprise the principal proportion of the monomers and determine the physical and chemical properties of the polymer, and cure‐site monomers , which are incorporated to the extent of 1–5% to introduce reactive sites for subsequent cross‐linking reactions. Emulsion and suspension polymerization are the important methods for preparing the elastomers. Their rheological characteristics require processing that addresses contamination more than for other types. Fairly rigid processing is required. The monomers from which these elastomers are prepared have varying degrees of toxicity. Because of the wide property range, the acylic elastomers have many application, eg, coatings, textiles, automotive products, adhesives, paper, and agriculture.

Acrylic Elastomers

“…The polymeric product is typically a milky-white dispersion of polymer in water at a polymer solids content of 30-60% (40). The use of water as a dispersion medium provides attractive safety, environmental, and heat removal benefits when compared to other methods.…”

“…Many cure systems for labile chlorine containing ACM have been proposed (40). Among these the alkali metal carboxylate-sulfur cure system, or soap-sulfur as it is called in the United States, became the mainstay of acrylic elastomer technology in the early 1960s (43), and continues to be widely used.…”

“…The manufacturing process for poly(vinyl chloride) uses acrylic as processing aids. In the agricultural area, thin layers of acrylic emulsions have been applied to citrus leaves and fruits to control leaf-spotting damage (40). …”

Preparation and Characterization of Novel Naturally Renewable Resin Acid Based Monomer

“…In the last few decades, the type of acrylate monomer has evolved from monofunctionality (e.g., methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate) to multifunctionality (e.g., Trimethylolpropane propoxylate triacrylate), and from small molecule to oligomer (e.g, epoxy acrylate, polyurethane acrylate, polyester acrylate, etc). [ 1,2] However, these monomers are mainly derived from petrochemical feedstocks. Since these resource would probably depleted within the next hundreds of years and increase the environmental problem that resulting from the difficulty in degradation, the exploitation of renewable resource for the manufacture of novel environmental friendly acrylate monomer was therefore received a great deal of attention.…”