Kinetics of successive seeding of monodisperse polystyrene latexes. II. Azo initiators with and without inhibitors

Oil soluble azo initiators in combination with water soluble inhibitors were used to extend the particle size limit in studies of the kinetics of successive seeding of monodisperse polystyrene latexes. Monodisperse latexes were prepared up to 2.5 μm in diam using 4.0 mM AMBN and 14.5 mM hydroquinone with a constant 15% emulsifier (Aerosol–MA) surface coverage throughout the seven step sequence. The polymerization kinetics were measured in a piston/cylinder dilatometer designed for microgravity experiments. The Interval III kinetics were dominated by the gel effect although these were affected by the nature of the inhibitor. In general, the overall polymerization rate decreased with increasing particle size (decreasing N_p) up to a size of about 1 μm. Thereafter, the kinetics were independent of these variables, exhibiting Smith-Ewart Case 3 (bulk) kinetics. The initiator efficiencies were found to be of the order of 10%, considerably lower than reported for bulk polymerizations.