Which are the mechanisms governing in cationic emulsion polymerization?

The cationic emulsion polymerization of styrene in a batch reactor using different concentrations of dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (HDTAB) as cationic surfactants, and 2,2′-azobisisobutyramidine dihydrochloride (AIBA), and 2,2′-azobis (N,N′-dimethyleneisobutyramidine) dihydrochloride (ADIBA) as cationic initiators has been studied. In the preliminary study, the best conditions to obtain stable cationic latexes at high conversions were identified. When the surfactant concentration was above its cmc, latexes with high conversions were achieved for the two cationic surfactants studied (DTAB and HDTAB). Cationic latexes with less coagulum were obtained using ADIBA as cationic initiator due to its superior resistance to hydrolysis. AIBA is hydrolyzed to amide at basic pHs and in this way, the concentration of radicals formed in the aqueous phase decreases. On the other hand, a stronger effect of the particle size on the kinetics of the cationic emulsion polymerization of styrene using HDTAB as cationic surfactant was observed than using DTAB. Furthermore, different kinetic behaviors were observed with the two cationic initiators (ADIBA and AIBA) using HDTAB as cationic surfactant, due to the lower stabilizing effect of the cationic radicals provided by AIBA.     

Kinetics of the batch cationic emulsion polymerization of styrene: A comparative study with the anionic case

An in‐depth study on the kinetics of the cationic emulsion polymerization of styrene in a batch reactor is presented. This study is focused on the effect of the amount of the cationic surfactant dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), using two different cationic initiators: 2,2′‐azobisisobutyramidine dihydrochloride (AIBA), 2,2′‐azobis (N,N′‐dimethyleneisobutyramidine) dihydrochloride (ADIBA), on kinetics and colloidal features such as conversion, number of particles, number average of radicals per particle, mean particle diameter, and particle size distribution (PSD) of the polystyrene latices obtained by emulsion polymerization in a batch reactor. Furthermore, the results of the cationic emulsion polymerization were compared with its homologous anionic case. Using DTAB as cationic surfactant an expected increase in the total rate of polymerization was observed when the DTAB concentration increased. However, the total number of particles increased much more than in the anionic system. On the other hand, a dependence on the particle size of the rate of polymerization per particle together with the average number of radicals per particle was found. These differences between cationic and anionic emulsion polymerizations were explained taking into account the limited particle coagulation observed with cationic surfactants, and the high rate of radical formation of cationic initiators. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4461–4478, 2006     

Polymeric and colloidal features of latex particles with surface amino groups obtained by semicontinuous seeded cationic emulsion polymerization*

Monodisperse latex particles with different amounts of surface amino and amidine groups were synthesized by means of a semicontinuous seeded cationic emulsion polymerization of styrene and a cationic monomer. High partial overall conversions for styrene and limited ones for the cationic monomer were achieved. A reliable method for the quantification of surface amidine and amino groups was developed. It was found that the amount of surface amidine groups provided by the cationic initiator was higher when the amount of cationic monomer added increased. The value for the partition coefficient of the cationic monomer indicated that this polymerizes with the same probability in the water phase as in the particle. The colloidal stability, in terms of critical coagulation concentration, shows that the latexes would be useful as polymeric supports in immunoassays. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 3878–3886, 2005     

Hydrazine‐functionalized latexes

The noncommercial functional monomer 4‐vinylbenzyl hydrazine (VBH) was synthesized and subsequently copolymerized with styrene (St) by means of different batch and semicontinuous seeded emulsion polymerization processes, so as to obtain hydrazine‐functionalized nanoparticles. The effect of pH, surfactant and initiator amounts, ratio VBH/St, reaction temperature, and ratio acetone/water were studied. Due to the amphiphilic character of VBH at acid pH, the hydrazine groups of the functionalized comonomer were masked with acetone to form hydrazone groups. Secondary nucleations were avoided by using the protected VBH comonomer; however, a decreased radical efficiency achieving limited conversion was observed. Controlling the cationic initiator concentration, complete conversions together with the neat growth of the seed particles were obtained in the semicontinuous seeded emulsion polymerization of styrene and VBH protected with acetone. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 6201–6213, 2009     

Amphiphilic ABA triblock copolymer as surfactant in syntheses of microlatexes bearing cationic groups

Polystyrene microlatexes have been prepared by conventional emulsion polymerization with a novel amphiphilic water‐soluble ABA triblock copolymer, poly[2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate]₁₅‐b‐poly(propylene oxide)₃₆‐b‐poly[2‐(dimethyl‐amino)ethyl methacrylate]₁₅ (PDMAEMA₁₅‐PPO₃₆‐PDMAEMA₁₅), as a polycationic emulsifier under acidic or neutral conditions. The ABA triblock copolymer was developed by oxyanion‐initiated polymerization in our laboratory. In this study, it acted well both as a polycationic polymeric surfactant to form block copolymeric micelles for emulsion polymerization and as a stabilizer to be anchored into the polystyrene microlatex or adsorbed onto its surface. The results obtained with various copolymer concentrations and different pH media showed that microlatex diameters decreased remarkably with increased concentration of this ABA triblock copolymeric emulsifier, but were not as much affected by the pH of media within the experimental range of 3.4–7.0. The observed difference of the particle sizes from transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering measurements is discussed in terms of the effect of the absorbed surfactants and their electrical double layers. This difference has led to the formation of a cationic polyelectrolyte fringe on the surface of microspheres. The final microlatexes were characterized with respect to total conversion, particle diameter, and particle size distribution as well as colloidal stability. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3734–3742, 2002     

Microemulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of a cationic emulsifier

The principal subject discussed in the current paper is the radical polymerization of styrene in the three- and four component microemulsions stabilized by a cationic emulsifier. Polymerization in the o/w microemulsion is a new polymerization technique which allows to prepare the polymer latexes with the very high particle interface area and narrow particle size distribution. Polymers formed are very large with a very broad molecular weight distribution. In emulsion and microemulsion polymerizations, the reaction takes place in a large number of isolated loci dispersed in the continuous aqueous phase. However, in spite of the similarities between emulsion and microemulsion polymerization, there are large differences caused by the much larger amount of emulsifier in the latter process. In the emulsion polymerization there are three rate intervals. In the microemulsion polymerization only two reaction rate intervals are commonly detected: first, the polymerization rate increases rapidly with the reaction time and then decreases steadily. Essential features of microemulsion polymerization are as follows: (1) polymerization proceeds under non-stationary state conditions; (2) size and particle concentration increases throughout the course of polymerization; (3) chain-transfer to monomer/exit of transferred monomeric radical/radical re-entry events are operative; and (4) molecular weight is independent of conversion and distribution of resulting polymer is very broad. The number of microdroplets or monomer-starved micelles at higher conversion is high and they persist throughout the reaction. The high emulsifier/water ratio ensures that the emulsifier is undissociated and can penetrate into the microdroplets. The presence of a large amount of emulsifier strongly influences the reaction kinetics and the particle nucleation. The mixed mode particle nucleation is assumed to govern the polymerization process. At low emulsifier concentration the micellar nucleation is dominant while at a high emulsifier concentration the interaction-like homogeneous nucleation is operative. Furthermore, the paper is focused on the initiation and nucleation mechanisms, location of initiation locus, and growth and deactivation of latex particles. Furthermore, the relationship between kinetic and molecular weight parameters of the microemulsion polymerization process and colloidal (water/particle interface) parameters is discussed. In particular, we follow the effect of initiator and emulsifier type and concentration on the polymerization process. Besides, the effects of monomer concentration and additives are also evaluated.     

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

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     

Effect of molecular structures of Gemini and polymerizable emulsifiers on cationic emulsion copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate

In order to understand the effect of molecular structures of emulsifiers on the cationic emulsion copolymerization of styrene (St) and butyl acrylate (BA) in details, hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), methacryloxy ethyl hexadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide (DMHB), ethanediyl bis(hexadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide) (G16-2-16), and maleic acid diethyl bis(hexadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide) (P16-8-16) were used as emulsifiers. TEM photos, instantaneous conversions, and colloidal features, such as the particle size, surface charge density, and glass transition temperature (T_g), were measured. Compared with polymerizable emulsifiers (DMHB and P16-8-16), non-polymerizable emulsifiers (CTAB and G16-2-16) produced more uniform nanospheres. In the reactions with polymerizable emulsifiers, higher reaction rates, lower surface charge densities, and lower T_g were observed. Compared with the single-chain emulsifiers, the double-chain emulsifiers resulted in lower reaction rates, bigger particle sizes, better monodispersities, and higher surface charge densities.     

The inverse emulsion polymerization of acrylamide using polystyrene-graft-polyoxyethylene as the stabilizer

Inverse emulsion polymerization of aqueous solution of acrylamide (AM) in toluene is carried out using polystyrene-graft-polyoxyethylene (PSt-g-PEO) as an emulsifier. The kinetics of polymerization, morphology of the particle, and particle size of the inverse emulsion have been investigated. The rates of polymerization are found to be proportional to the initiator concentration, the monomer concentration, and the emulsifier concentration. The morphology of the particle shows a spherical structure. The effects of amphipathic graft copolymer structure on the average molecular weight of polyacrylamide are studied. The mechanism of the inverse emulsion polymerization using amphipathic graft copolymer as emulsifier is proposed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 2719–2725, 1999     

Sorption of 2-naphthol and copper ions by cationic surfactant-adsorbed laponite

As one of applications of adsolubilization, a simultaneous sorption of 2-naphthol and copper ions by cationic surfactant-adsorbed laponite was carried out. Both the surfactant-adsorbed laponite using dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and 1,2-bis(dodecyldimethylammonio) ethane dibromide (2RenQ) retained a high sorption capacity for copper ions, while the 2RenQ-adsorbed laponite completely adsolubilized 2-naphthol in a whole concentration region, but the DTAB-adsorbed laponite one decreased the adsolubilization gradually above the cmc of DTAB. Thus, it was found that laponite having cationic surfactant-adsorbed layer has a great capacity for a simultaneous removal of both toxic nonionic and ionic compounds.     

有机硅-丙烯酸酯聚合物乳液合成及粒径分析

通过种子乳液半连续法合成了有机硅改性丙烯酸酯聚合物乳液,并对其粒子形态及分布进行分析。结果表明:通过种子乳液半连续聚合工艺可制备出固含量42wt%,乳化剂含量4wt%(基于单体量)、窄分布纳米粒子的有机硅改性丙烯酸酯聚合物乳液。随反应进行,粒径分布变窄,平均粒径逐渐增大。随乳化剂中SDS与OP-10的摩尔比减少,粒径增大。     

St-BA copolymer emulsions prepared by using novel cationic maleic dialkyl polymerizable emulsifier

A novel polymerizable cationic dialkyl maleic emulsifier with 12 carbon atomic hydrophobic chain lengths (R = C₁₂H₂₅) as well as a similar conventional cationic emulsifier, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as comparison, were investigated in batch emulsion copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate. A series of emulsion samples have been prepared with two kinds of emulsifiers, and their properties have been characterized and compared. Compared with the emulsions prepared by using cationic CTAB emulsifier, the emulsions prepared by using maleic emulsifier have larger particle size, higher surface tension, generally more stable on certain electrolytes and less water absorption ratio as 34.87% after 30 days vs. 50.65% for the emulsion containing CTAB emulsifier. Whereas, the maleic emulsifier itself has lower CMC and surface tension compared with cationic CTAB emulsifier.     

The role of cationic monomers in emulsion polymerization

[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (MATMAC), and vinylbenzyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (VBTMAC) were chosen to be used as ionic comonomers in the emulsion polymerization of styrene. The cationic nature of the two comonomers is the same (quaternary ammonium salts), however the styrene derivate (VBTMAC) is more hydrophobic than the methacrylic one (MATMAC). With the more hydrophobic cationic comonomer (VBTMAC) higher conversions were obtained due to the in situ creation of an amphiphilic copolymer with styrene and faster rates of polymerization were observed by increasing the cationic comonomer concentration. The same behavior was observed with the more hydrophilic cationic comonomer (MATMAC) at concentrations up to 0.012 M. At higher concentrations the ionic strength controls the colloidal stability of the system and coagulation occurs.     

Amino‐functionalized latex particles obtained by a multistep method: Development of a new immunoreagent

Cationic latex particles with surface amino groups were prepared by a multistep batch emulsion polymerization. In the first one, two or three steps, monodisperse cationic latex particles to be used as the seed were synthesized. In the third and fourth steps, the amino‐functionalized monomer aminoethylmethacrylate hydrochloride was used to synthesize the final functionalized latex particles. Three different azo initiators 2,2′‐azobisisobutyramidine dihydrochloride, 2,2′‐azobisdimethylenisobutyramidine dihydrochloride, and 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile were used as initiators. Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide was the emulsifier. To characterize the final latices, conversions were obtained gravimetrically, and particle size distributions and average particle diameters were determined by transmission electron microscopy and photon correlation spectroscopy. The amount of amino groups was determined by conductimetric titrations. Colloidal aspects were ascertained by measuring the electrophoretic mobilities. Activation of these particles with glutaraldehyde produced an efficient reagent for latex‐enhanced immunoassay. The covalent coupling efficiency (protein covalently bound with respect to the total amount of protein adsorbed) was compressed between 50 and 80%. The developed immunoreagent was applied to the measurement of serum ferritin concentration in a new turbidimetric procedure that was compared with a commercial nephelometric method; the results obtained with both methods demonstrated that the two procedures correlated well (r = 0.992). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2404–2411, 2003     

On the emulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of a nonionic emulsifier

The batch emulsion polymerization kinetics of styrene (St) initiated by a water-soluble peroxodisulfate in the presence of a nonionic emulsifier was investigated. The polymerization rate versus the conversion curves showed two nonstationary rate intervals, two rate maxima, and Smith–Ewart Interval 2 (nondistinct). The rate of polymerization and number of nucleated polymer particles were proportional to the 1.4th and 2.4th powers, respectively, of the emulsifier concentration. Deviation from the micellar nucleation model was attributed to the low water solubility of the emulsifier, the low level of the micellar emulsifier, and the mixed modes of particle nucleation. In emulsion polymerizations with a low emulsifier concentration, the number of radicals per particle and particle size increased with increasing conversion, and the increase was more pronounced at a low conversion. By contrast, in emulsion polymerizations with a high emulsifier concentration, the number of radicals per particle decreased with increasing conversion. This is discussed in terms of the mixed models of particle nucleation, the gel effect, and the pseudobulk kinetics. The formation of monodisperse latex particles was attributed to coagulative nucleation and droplet nucleation for the polymerizations with low and high emulsifier concentrations, respectively. The effects of the continuous release of the emulsifier from nonmicellar aggregates and monomer droplets, the close-packing structure of the droplet surface, and the hydrophobic nature of the emulsifier on the emulsion polymerization of St are discussed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 4422–4431, 1999     

Preparation and Characterization of Polymer Core Shell Latex Particles

Stable core‐shell latex was synthesized by semicontinuous seeded emulsion polymerization with core monomers consisting of styrene (St), butyl acrylate (BA), and shell monomers consisting of methyl methacrylate (MMA), eutyl acrylate (EA), and methacrylic acid (MAA). The effects of compound emulsifier amount, mass ratio of anionic/nonionic emulsifier, and initiator amount on latex performance were investigated. By particle size analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation, results suggest that final latex particles have clearly core shell structures.     

Particle formation in interval III of the emulsion polymerization of styrene with aerosol‐MA as an emulsifier

Particle nucleation in the seeded emulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of Aerosol‐MA emulsifier micelles and in the absence of monomer droplets (interval III) was investigated. The seed particles were swollen with different amounts of the styrene monomer before the experiments. A larger number of polymer particles formed in interval III than in the corresponding seeded batch operation in the presence of monomer droplets. The increase in the number of particles could be attributed to the reduced rate of growth of new particles, which retarded the depletion of emulsifier micelles. The number of secondary particles initially increased with the initial polymer weight ratio in the seed particles (w_p0) but decreased at a higher range of w_p0, after reaching a maximum at w_p0 = 0.60, and eventually was reduced to zero. At high values of w_p0 (>0.75), polymerization occurred in the seed particles, whereas few or no new particles were formed despite the presence of micelles. The cessation of particle formation at high conversions was ascertained with a semibatch process in which the neat monomer feed was added to the reaction vessel containing the seed particles and emulsifier micelles. For w_p0 > 0.85, the emulsifier micelles were disintegrated to stabilize the seed particles with no secondary particle formation. The possible reasons for the cessation of particle formation at high w_p0 were examined. The size distribution of secondary particles showed a positive skewness in terms of volume because of the declining rate of growth for particles, together with a low rate of growth for small particles. The distribution breadth of new particles sharpened with increasing w_p0. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1652–1663, 2002     

Porous,bicontinuous, and cationic polyelectrolyte obtained by high internal phase emulsion polymerization

In this work, a cationic polyelectrolyte was synthesized through oil‐in‐water high internal phase emulsion polymerization. The porous polymer was obtained using the monomer (4‐vinyl benzyl)trimethylammonium chloride and cross‐linked with N,N‐methylene‐bis‐acrylamide; additionally, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) was used as the second cross‐linker, which was solubilized in the discontinuous phase leading to a bicontinuous‐like HIPE system because of the characteristics of this cross‐linker and the phase, where polymerized several effects on the polyHIPE were expected. In this way, the effect of the emulsifier and EGDMA content on the pore size, swelling, and rheological properties was assessed. It was observed that an increased concentration of the emulsifier in the polymerization decreased the pore size, narrowed its size distribution, and diminished the swelling capacity of the polymer. Additionally, the poly (HIPE) displayed a close‐cell structure explained by the locus of initiation starting from the droplets of the emulsion. After the addition of EGDMA, the polymer exhibited a major decrease in pore size and a significant decrease in swelling attributed to the polymerized skin layer on the droplet and hydrophobicity provided by the polyEGDMA, respectively. Rheological assays revealed an increase in the complex modulus and shear stress as the pore size decreased, but the addition of EGDMA did not produce an increase in the modulus, as expected. Finally, the sorption capabilities of the cationic porous polymers were evaluated through kinetic and isotherm sorption experiments using the anionic dye Acid Black 24.     

Adsorption of cationic nanospheres on cotton fibers: the effect of emulsifiers used in the cationic emulsion polymerization

Cationic p(St-co-BA) nanospheres were prepared and their adsorption on cotton fibers was carried out. The effect of Gemini emulsifier ethanediyl bis(hexadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide) (G16-2-16) on the colloidal features and adsorption properties of the cationic nanospheres was investigated. To get a clear understanding, the corresponding single-chain emulsifier hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was used as a comparison. Colloidal features, such as particle size and surface charge density, and adsorption properties, such as adsorption rate, were measured. G16-2-16 produced cationic p(St-co-BA) nanospheres with bigger particle size, better monodispersity, and higher surface charge density than CTAB. Compared with CTAB, G16-2-16 resulted in higher adsorption rate and more uniform arrangement of nanospheres at the cotton fiber surface.     

Methyl methacrylate emulsion polymerization at low monomer concentration: Kinetic modeling of nucleation,particle size distribution,and rate of polymerization

The results of a mathematical model developed in the authors' previous work are discussed and compared against final number (N) and size distribution of particles (PSD) and the rate of polymerization (RP) experimental data of methyl methacrylate (MMA) emulsion polymerization above the critical micelle concentration (cmc) of the surfactant. On the basis of the model results, the hypothesis that the observed bimodal PSD can be ascribed to secondary nucleation as proposed in the literature is questionable. It is discussed that this PSD can also be caused by differences in the growing rate of different‐size particles as predicted for styrene emulsion polymerization. Because of the small particle size obtained at low initial monomer concentration, the high rate of free‐radical desorption reduces the accumulation of these species; therefore, the autoacceleration effect is less pronounced for the conditions under study compared with the usual behavior of the RP during MMA emulsion polymerization above cmc. Similarities and differences between model predictions and experimental data are discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 2547–2556, 2001