| Abstract: | Nonaqueous dispersions of poly(vinyl acetate) particles stabilized with poly(2-ethylhexyl methacrylate) and labelled with fluorescent dyes in the core and stabilizer polymer phases were prepared. The materials were characterized using a broad range of techniques (NMR, UV, and fluorescence spectroscopy. GPC, particle sizing, and DSC). The data show that dispersion polymerization of vinyl acetate in the presence of stabilizers containing certain fluorescent dye derivatives, instead of unlabelled stabilizer, results in changes in the mean particle size, size distribution, composition, and molecular weights of the colloidal polymer particles. It was found that increasing the amounts of fluorescent groups in the stabilizer resulted in smaller mean particle sizes and larger amounts of irreversibly attached stabilizer. When the average number of labels in stabilizer exceeded one per chain, a new ultra-high molecular weight polymer fraction appeared. The fluorescence spectra for several of these materials are reported. We describe how fluorescence decay curves can be used to assess block formation and local phase separation in particles labelled with phenanthrene groups. These materials are intended to be used for more detailed studies by fluorescence spectroscopy. Those results will be published in due course. |
