Particle morphology in the radiation-induced heterophase polymerization of vinyl chloride with solvent added in small amounts

Investigations were carried out on the polymer particle morphology obtained in the early stages of radiation-induced bulk polymerization of vinyl chloride with solvent added in small amounts over the temperature range of ?10 to 70°C under quiescent conditions. At low temperatures, when the polymerization is carried out in the absence of solvent, there is flocculation of irregular aggregates of two types depending on polymerization conditions: (i) small primary particles that remain finely dispersed and (ii) large flocs that undergo rapid sedimentation. By addition of increasing amounts of solvent a gradual change towards single small spherical particles that remain finely dispersed is obtained. With more than 3% w/w THF, spherical particles in latexlike dispersions are obtained in polymerizations at ?10 and 22.8°C, and show a small change in size with increasing amounts of THF. In the high-temperature range, 50–70°C, where spherical particles can be obtained in the absence of solvent, no significant changes are produced by addition of THF. The results are discussed in the terms of a marked increase in particle plasticization by the solvent, enabling the coalescence of flocculated particles of small size to occur also in polymerization at low temperature.     

Particle morphology in the early stages of radiation-induced heterophase polymerization of vinyl chloride

Investigations of the particle morphology of poly(vinyl chloride) produced under quiescent conditions during radiation-induced bulk polymerization over the temperature range ?30 to 70°C were carried out. The observations were mainly confined to the early stages of polymerization. For polymerization temperatures below about 20°C, the systems remain predominantly homogeneous during the entire polymerization and the polymer particles increase in size linearly with conversion. At higher temperatures the polymer particles rapidly settle and become cemented together. The findings are discussed in the light of the kinetic data on vinyl chloride polymerization, and a process of particle formation and growth, resembling that recently proposed by Fitch for emulsion systems, was formulated. Primary particles are initially formed by the coiling up of single macromolecules or single macroradicals and, subsequently, they increase in size by sweeping up growing free radicals from the liquid monomer phase. The free radicals which escape capture give rise to new primary particles, but their number progressively decreases as the number of the dispersed particles increases. Simultaneously, the polymer particles undergo flocculation which in a short time results in the formation of large agglomerates. As the volume of the resulting agglomerates increases, the flocculation rate decreases and, eventually, becomes so low that the flocculation does not proceed further. At low temperatures the flocculation almost ceases when the agglomerates are still small enough for sedimentation to occur only very slowly. However, this is not the case at higher temperatures. The addition of substances such as alcohols, brings about a reduction in the flocculation rate and, hence, in the size of the agglomerates formed at the end of the flocculation process. In this way, one can also obtain at high temperatures agglomerates of small sizes which remain dispersed for a long time.     

纳米TiO_2粒子静电吸附引发剂及其原位锚固丙烯酸丁酯聚合

调节体系酸碱度使分散于水分散液中的纳米TiO2粒子表面带负电,进而通过静电作用高效稳定吸附上偶氮盐类引发剂2,2′-偶氮二异丁脒二氯化氢(AIBA).实验发现引发剂在TiO2粒子表面的静电吸附存在一个稳定吸附上限,其值在pH=10的体系中为0.084mmol/g(相对于TiO2的量).进一步通过原位乳液聚合在TiO2粒子表面就地引发丙烯酸丁酯(BA)的锚固聚合,制备得到了PBA/TiO2复合乳胶.对聚合动力学和聚合产物的观察发现,吸附引发剂在其中起到重大作用,只有当引发剂用量略低于稳定吸附上限时,反应过程稳定性和聚合产物分散性才较好.此时聚合反应阻聚期短、反应速率快、单体转化率高、实验重现性好.热重分析(TGA)和红外光谱分析(FTIR)结合抽提实验证实,通过原位乳液聚合可在TiO2粒子表面锚固上13.5%的不可抽提PBA聚合物.动态激光粒度分析(DLS)发现,原位锚固改性对TiO2粒子软团聚体具有稳定的解团聚作用,可有效提高纳米TiO2粒子在体系中的分散性和分散稳定性.这一化学改性作用与超声分散所带来的物理性的可逆解软团聚作用有着本质区别.     

MONODISPERSE MICRON-SIZED POLYACRYLAMIDE PARTICLES SYNTHESIZED BY DISPERSION POLYMERIZATION

Monodisperse micron-sized polyacrylamide （PAM） particles with a regular shape have been successfully prepared through dispersion polymerization of the monomer using a rotary reactor. FTIR and NMR spectroscopic results demonstrated the formation of PAM. POM and TEM observations revealed that PAM particles had a regular shape and good dispersity. A thick layer of surfactant （PVP） still existed on PAM particles after multiple centrifugation and ultrasonic re-dispersion in ethanol, which indicates a strong interaction between PVP and PAM. The effects of various polymerization factors on the average size of PAM particles have also been studied.     

纳米金掺杂中空微胶囊的制备与表征

将表面含有双键的二氧化硅微粒分散在纳米金和聚乙烯吡咯烷酮溶液中.在此溶液中以聚乙烯吡咯烷酮为模板聚合物进行丙烯酸的模板聚合,得到二氧化硅为核、聚丙烯酸/聚乙烯吡咯烷酮/纳米金为壳层的核壳结构微粒.用氢氟酸将二氧化硅微粒去除后,得到了纳米金粒子掺杂的微胶囊.分别用扫描电子显微镜和激光共聚焦显微镜表征了微胶囊在干态和湿态下的形貌.通过电子衍射和透射电子显微镜确证了纳米金粒子在微囊壁上的存在和分布.     

Study of poly(St/BA/MAA) copolymer latexes with trimodal particle size distribution

A new strategy was developed for producing a polymer latex with trimodal particle size distribution by adding a second seed of polymer particles and some additional surfactants during polymerization. The polymerization was investigated by following the variation of the particle size, the size distribution, the number of particles, the surface tension and surfactant surface coverage at different stages of the polymerization process. The results showed that both the size and the size distribution can be easily controlled by varying the amount of additional surfactants and the second seed of polymer particles. The secondary nucleation was achieved when the surface coverage of particles was over 70%, and the amount of small particles formed increased with increasing amount of additional surfactants. The introduction of the additional surfactants had no significant effect on the size and number of middle particles, but reduced the size of large particles and caused the number of large particles to remain more stable because of the suppression of limited flocculation. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Poly(styrene-b-ethylene oxide) copolymers as stabilizers for the synthesis of silica–polystyrene core–shell particles

Following previous works [1, 2], silica–polystyrene core–shell particles have been synthesized by dispersion polymerization of styrene in an ethanol/water mixture in the presence of a poly(styrene-b-ethylene oxide) block copolymer as stabilizer. Besides the formation of composite core–shell particles, a large number of free latex particles that do not contain silica were also formed. This number decreases as the size of the silica beads decreases from 300 to 29 nm in diameter, and becomes very low compared to the number of composite particles for the smallest silica beads used. In every case, the composite particles could be easily separated from the free latex particles by centrifugation, providing a material made of regular core–shell composite particles. On the basis of the mechanisms involved in dispersion polymerization, hypotheses were formulated to account for the formation of the silica–polystyrene composite particles. Received: 6 May 1999 Accepted in revised form: 29 June 1999     

Synthesis and utilization of monodisperse hollow polymeric particles in photonic crystals

We developed a process to fabricate 150-700 nm monodisperse polymer particles with 100-500 nm hollow cores. These hollow particles were fabricated via dispersion polymerization to synthesize a polymer shell around monodisperse SiO(2) particles. The SiO(2) cores were then removed by HF etching to produce monodisperse hollow polymeric particle shells. The hollow core size and the polymer shell thickness, can be easily varied over significant size ranges. These hollow polymeric particles are sufficiently monodisperse that upon centrifugation from ethanol they form well-ordered close-packed colloidal crystals that diffract light. After the surfaces are functionalized with sulfonates, these particles self-assemble into crystalline colloidal arrays in deionized water. This synthetic method can also be used to create monodisperse particles with complex and unusual morphologies. For example, we synthesized hollow particles containing two concentric-independent, spherical polymer shells, and hollow silica particles which contain a central spherical silica core. In addition, these hollow spheres can be used as template microreactors. For example, we were able to fabricate monodisperse polymer spheres containing high concentrations of magnetic nanospheres formed by direct precipitation within the hollow cores.     

Seeded polymerization of vinyl acetate using monodisperse poly(vinyl acetate) latex particles

The seeded polymerizations of vinyl acetate, using monodisperse poly(vinyl acetate) latex particles prepared in the absence of emulsifiers with potassium persulfate, have been investigated at 70°C with potassium persulfate as an initiator. New small particles were formed in the system containing a small amount of seed particles, but were not observed in the system containing a large amount of seed particles. The size of the secondary particles increased, and their number decreased, with an increase in the seed particle number. The minimum diameter of PVAc particles, which are stabilized by the sulfate ion groups bound at the end of polymer chains during polymerization, was determined to be 0.12 μm diameter from the limiting total surface area of seed particles which prevented further secondary nucleation. The minimum diameter of the particles increased as the speed of the stirrer increased. The new small particle number calculated using this value agreed well with that formed in the seeded polymerization.     

Synthesis of pH-responsive particles with shape anisotropy

Seeded emulsion polymerization is used to produce large quantities of shape anisotropic, amphoteric particles in a size range of about 1 μm. Copolymer dicolloids (CDCs) containing pyridine groups are synthesized by swelling spherical, lightly cross-linked polystyrene seeds with a mixture of styrene and pH-responsive monomer 2-vinyl pyridine followed by secondary polymerization to contrast with their analogue homopolymer dicolloids (HDCs) where the swelling step is carried out with styrene alone. After the particles are coated with a nonionic surfactant to minimize van der Waals attractions, surface potentials and aggregation properties of dilute suspensions are studied as functions of pH and ionic strength. Compared to HDCs, which remain stable at all pH values studied (3 < pH < 9) up to an ionic strength of 5 M, the CDC particles show amphoteric behavior with strong attractions under conditions where dipolar interactions are expected to dominate.     

Monomodal polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles of PDADMAC/Poly(styrenesulfonate): preparation and protein interaction

The binding of the model proteins HSA, LYZ and MYO to PEC nanoparticles is reported. PEC particles were prepared by mixing solutions of PDADMAC either with PSS or PMA-MS, followed by consecutive centrifugation. Monomodal anionic (PEC-1.50) and cationic (PEC-0.66) PEC particles were obtained using non-stoichiometric mixing ratios. PEC/protein conjugates were prepared by adding charged protein solutions to dispersions of respective like charged PEC particles, followed by one centrifugation step. Mixing proteins and PEC particles under attractive conditions led to flocculation of the dispersion. From CD, DLS and AFM the following trend for protein binding at PEC particles under repulsive conditions was obtained: HSA/PEC-1.50 > MYO/PEC-1.50 > LYZ/PEC-0.66. Protein uptakes up to 0.33 g x g(-1) (protein/PEC) (CD) and particle diameter enlargements up to 13 nm (AFM) were obtained at c(PROT) = 0.091 mg . mL(-1). Furthermore, novel spin coated films of PEC particles were interacted with proteins under both repulsive and attractive conditions. In-situ ATR FT-IR spectroscopy revealed that the adsorbed amount of HSA and LYZ under attractive conditions was significantly higher than under repulsive ones, which is analogous to protein adsorption at polyelectrolyte multilayers terminated either by polycation or polyanion. Similarly to the dispersed PEC/protein conjugates, under repulsive conditions the uptake of HSA was higher compared to LYZ. The shown protein uptake under repulsive conditions is related to concepts of mild enzyme or protein binding at nonbiogenic substrates.     

茂型金属复合催化丙烯酸酯聚合物多孔材料的研究

以丙烯酸酯类单体、聚合物树脂粉料为主要原料,通过自制乳化剂的水乳液模板法和茂型金属-N,N-二甲基苯胺-过氧化物组成的复合氧化―还原引发体系,混合形成可室温快速聚合成型得到丙烯酸酯聚合物多孔材料的可浇注的悬浮乳液。研究了初始混合温度、搅拌速度和时间对操作工艺的影响和聚合固化过程中的热效应,讨论了聚合成孔机理、水和惰性树脂粉料对多孔材料孔隙和强度的影响、多孔材料的透气透水性能。结果表明,二茂铁比二茂钴、二茂镍、二茂钌等均具有更快的引发速率和单体转化率,在完全活性树脂粉料下成型的多孔材料可具有30 MPa以上抗压强度和40%以上的压缩形变,优异的透气透水性,开孔孔隙率达20%(V/V)以上;并且随着惰性树脂粉料的添加,多孔材料强度韧性和开孔孔隙率明显下降;而随着水用量的增加,开孔材料孔隙率增加,强度下降。     

Microencapsulation of phosphor particles with the drying‐in‐liquid method in parallel with the suspension polymerization method and effect on afterglow luminance property

Strontium aluminate particles as phosphor particles were microencapsulated with the drying‐in‐liquid method in parallel with the suspension polymerization method in order to increase the waterproof and to improve afterglow luminance property. In this study, ethylene glycol was used as the continuous phase instead of water to prevent phosphor particles from deteriorating at the microencapsulation process, and polystyrene was used as the more hydrophobic microcapsule shell. Styrene monomer was used as the solvent of polystyrene at the drying‐in‐liquid method and as the polymerizable monomer at the suspension polymerization method at the same time. The content and the waterproof could be considerably increased with the drying‐in‐liquid method in parallel with the suspension polymerization method as compared with only the drying‐in‐liquid method, because the denser microcapsule shell without any tiny holes and cracks could be formed. The decrease due to water in brightness of afterglow luminance of phosphor particles could be prevented by microencapsulating with the drying‐in‐liquid method in parallel with suspension polymerization method. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation of Bowl-Like Polymer Particles via Multi-Step Emulsion Polymerization and Alkali Post-Treatment

Summary : Monodisperse P(BA-MMA-MAA-EGDMA)/P(St-MAA-DVB) core/shell latex particles were first synthesized by a four-step emulsion polymerization, and a new kind of latex particles with “bowl-like” morphology were obtained by post-treating the resultant core/shell particles under alkali condition. Results indicated that the feeding rates of the monomer mixture and initiator aqueous solution were the key parameters to obtain monodisperse core/shell latex particles in the emulsion polymerization process, and the latex particles with “bowl-like” morphology could be generated only when the treatment temperature was equal or higher than 70 °C.     

Particle formation under monomer‐starved conditions in the semibatch emulsion polymerization of styrene. I. Experimental

Particle formation and particle growth compete in the course of an emulsion polymerization reaction. Any variation in the rate of particle growth, therefore, will result in an opposite effect on the rate of particle formation. The particle formation in a semibatch emulsion polymerization of styrene under monomer‐starved conditions was studied. The semibatch emulsion polymerization reactions were started by the monomer being fed at a low rate to a reaction vessel containing deionized water, an emulsifier, and an initiator. The number of polymer particles increased with a decreasing monomer feed rate. A much larger number of particles (within 1–2 orders of magnitude) than that generally expected from a conventional batch emulsion polymerization was obtained. The results showed a higher dependence of the number of polymer particles on the emulsifier and initiator concentrations compared with that for a batch emulsion polymerization. The size distribution of the particles was characterized by a positive skewness due to the declining rate of the growth of particles during the nucleation stage. A routine for monomer partitioning among the polymer phase, the aqueous phase, and micelles was developed. The results showed that particle formation most likely occurred under monomer‐starved conditions. A small average radical number was obtained because of the formation of a large number of polymer particles, so the kinetics of the system could be explained by a zero–one system. The particle size distribution of the latexes broadened with time as a result of stochastic broadening associated with zero–one systems. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 3940–3952, 2001     

Impact of initiators in preparing magnetic polymer particles by miniemulsion polymerization

Sub-micron sized polystyrene particles containing magnetite more than 30 wt.% were prepared by miniemulsion polymerization with commercially available ferricolloid. The effects of some water-soluble initiators and/or oil-soluble initiators on the particles characteristics, such as the size, morphology, magnetic properties and colloidal stability, were studied. The size of monomer droplets/polymer particles increased from 60 to 300 nm during polymerization, keeping magnetic in core when potassium persulfate (KPS) or ammonium persulfate (APS) was used as the sole initiator. These particles were easily separated from the medium within short time scale in external magnetic field, while such characteristics were controlled by the amount of persulfate used for the polymerization. In contrast, when 2,2′-azobis isobutyronitrile (AIBN) was used as the initiator, the size of droplets/particles was retained to be 90 nm at the most and magnetite nanoparticles located at the surface of polystyrene particles, which were so colloidally stable that they were not separated in external magnetic field. The above-mentioned effect of initiators on particle size in persulfate system was likely originated from the decrease of pH value and the increase of ionic strength, which induced the fusion of droplets/particles containing magnetite. Mixed-initiators system resulted in intermediate characteristics, compared with each initiator system. The location of magnetite in the particle seems to depend on where initiation/polymerization occurred in each initiator system.     

Preparation of multihollow polystyrene particles by seeded emulsion polymerization using seed particles with incorporated nonionic emulsifier: effect of temperature

Seeded emulsion polymerizations of styrene using polystyrene (PS) seed particles with incorporated nonionic emulsifier were carried out at 40 and 70 °C to investigate the influence of temperature during the polymerization process including the swelling step of the seed particles with monomer on the formation of multihollow PS particles. An increase in the temperature during the polymerization process caused an increase in the rate of coalescence (i.e., the degree of coalescence at any given time) of the small water domains in the inside. After the coalescence proceeded excessively, the water domains were eventually discharged from the particles to the medium, resulting in nonhollow particles. The results show that it is important for the preparation of the multihollow PS particles to control the coalescence of a lot of small water domains inside the seed particles with the incorporated nonionic emulsifier, and strongly support the formation mechanism previously proposed. Part CCCXX of the series “Studies on Suspension and Emulsion”.     

离子型共聚单体参与下的全氟丙烯酸酯无皂乳液共聚

离子型共聚单体参与下的全氟丙烯酸酯无皂乳液共聚;全氟烷基丙烯酸酯;无皂乳液;离子型共聚单体     

Designing Organic/Inorganic Colloids by Heterophase Polymerization

Polymer/silica and polymer/Laponite nanocomposite colloids with various morphologies have been elaborated through emulsion polymerization using a polymerizable organosilane (route I) and a methyl methacrylate-terminated macromonomer (route II) as coupling agents. Depending on the synthetic strategy and on the nature of the mineral particles, either core-shell, raspberry-like, multipod-like, currant bun or inverted core-shell morphologies (the mineral forming the shell) were achieved. Beyond the control of particle shape, we have demonstrated that some of the polymerizations exhibited particular kinetics behaviors which could be correlated to the mechanism of formation of the composite particles. Interestingly, conversion versus time curves of a series of soap free polymerizations performed in the presence of the macromonomer showed a significant increase in the polymerization rate with increasing the inorganic particles concentration. Characterization of the composite latexes by transmission electron microscopy showed that the mineral was located at the surface of the latex spheres and participated therefore to their stabilization. The higher the amount of inorganic particles, the lower the particles size and the higher the polymerization rate.     

Semi-continuous emulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of poly(methyl methacrylate) seed particles. Polymerization conditions giving core-shell particles

This work reports the morphology of two-phase latex particles prepared by semi-continuous seed emulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of polar poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, seed particles, using different conditions of non-polar styrene feed rate, rate of initiation, seed particle concentration and temperature of polymerization.The expected latex particle morphology at thermodynamic equilibrium is an inverted core-shell structure where the non-polar polystyrene would form the core. However, depending on the set of process conditions used the morphology of the resulting two-phase particles varied from that of a pure core-shell structure, over intermediate structures in which a shell of PS surrounded a PMMA core containing an increasing number of PS phase domains, to a structure in which the entire PS phase was present as discrete PS phase domain, more or less evenly distributed in a matrix of PMMA.By the use of a caloirimetric reactor system the monomer concentration in the particles during the different polymerization experiments could be calculated by comparing the integral of the polymerization rate curve with the integral of the monomer feed rate. A comparison between particle morphology and the calculated concentration of plasticizing monomer in the polymerizing particles strongly suggested that the diffusivity of the entering oligo radicals determined by the difference between polymerization temperature and the glass transition temperature of the monomer-swollen core polymer is a key factor determining the morphology of two-phase particles prepared by semi-continuous seed emulsion polymerization.Two-phase particles with a true core-shell structure were obtained in experiments where the estimated glass transition temperature of the PMMA phase was only a few degrees below the polymerization temperature. The results show that such particles can be obtained under conditions of high as well as low styrene feed rates, provided that the rate of initiation is properly adjusted.