Ultrasonically irradiated emulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of a polymeric surfactant

Abstract

A polymeric surfactant based on carboxymethyl cellulose and alkyl poly(etheroxy) acrylate (CMC-A9) was used in ultrasonically irradiated emulsion polymerization of styrene. Polystyrene nanoparticles (30 -60 nm) with high molecular weight were prepared. Compared with the conventional emulsion polymerization, the introduction of CMC-A9 in the polymerization yielded higher monomer conversion in a shorter time and under lower ultrasonic power output. A single latex particle contained only a few polymer chains with average chain numbers of 2-19. The particle size and polymer chain per particle could be controlled by changing the concentration of CMC-A9 and SDS.The effect of CMC-A9 and SDS on ultrasonically irradiated emulsion polymerization kinetics was studied. The results indicated that the ultrasonically irradiated emulsion polymerization had a similar nucleation mechanism to a miniemulsion polymerization system. This is attributed to the high ratio of radicals and a great number of smaller sizes of monomer droplets produced under ultrasonic irradiation.

Using anionic polymerizable surfactants in ultrasonically irradiated emulsion polymerization to prepare polymer nanoparticles

“…The ionic reactive surfactant sodium sulfopropyl‐laurylmaleate (M12) was synthesized according to the preparation method reported in the literature 24, 25. The molecular structure of M12 was shown in Scheme .…”

“…The ionic surfactants play a very important role in obtaining a high polymer yield in the ultrasonically irradiated emulsion polymerization, serving as not only the emulsifier but also the initiator. The most interesting aspect of ultrasonically irradiated emulsion polymerization was that it always resulted in smaller latex particles (i.e., <100 nm) due to the intense blast wave and shearing effect of ultrasound 21–23…”

Ultrasound enhanced radical graft polymerization of starch and butyl acrylate

“…Ultrasound can promote the formation of metal-fluorine bond in preparation of transition metal fluoro complex [5]. Polymers can be synthesized with the ultrasound waves by solution and emulsion polymerization [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Homopolymers, block copolymers, hydrogels and polymer-inorganic composites can be prepared with the ultrasound irradiation [12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

Emulsion polymerization of styrene with amphiphilic random copolymer as surfactant: Predominant droplet nucleation

“…Recently, polymeric surface-active materials as stabilizers in various aqueous emulsion polymerizations have been utilized extensively. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Compared with conventional surfactants, polymeric surfactants have relatively low critical micelle concentration (CMC) and they provide stability for emulsion by a steric repulsion force or an electrostatic repulsion effect between interacting particles. In addition, an anchoring counterpart should also exist in the stabilizer chain which anchors firmly on the surface of particles to prevent stabilizer molecules from desorption.…”

“…Recently, polymeric surface‐active materials as stabilizers in various aqueous emulsion polymerizations have been utilized extensively 1–12. Compared with conventional surfactants, polymeric surfactants have relatively low critical micelle concentration (CMC) and they provide stability for emulsion by a steric repulsion force or an electrostatic repulsion effect between interacting particles.…”