Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
Abstract:
The copolymerizations of a gaseous monomer (ethylene) and a liquid monomer (vinyl acetate) via emulsion and miniemulsion polymerizations are reported. Reactions in which the vinyl acetate was introduced in both batch and semibatch modes are carried out. (Ethylene introduction is always in a semibatch model since the polymerization is carried out under a constant pressure of ethylene in the reactor headspace.) The results are compared, drawing the conclusion that miniemulsion copolymerization has an advantage over conventional emulsion polymerization for monomers with very low water solubility (including gaseous monomers) due to their nucleation in monomer droplets without transport through the aqueous phase.
