One-pot polyvinyl chloride preparation utilizing polyacrylate latex with tertiary amine groups for improved thermal stability,toughness, and reduced reactor scaling

In this paper, crosslinked polyacrylate latex with tertiary amine groups (ACLN) and base latex without tertiary amine groups (ACL) were prepared by emulsion polymerization using butyl acrylate as the monomer and 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker. Composite resins of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ACL/PVC and ACLN/PVC, were prepared by suspension polymerization of vinyl chloride in a 20 L high-pressure reactor by adding ACL and ACLN as modifiers. The inner pressure of the reactor and initiator concentration as a function of reaction time during suspension polymerization were studied. Morphology of resin particles, processing properties, thermal stability and mechanical properties of ACL/PVC and ACLN/PVC products were investigated. A commercial PVC product named PVC-SG5 was used as the control sample for comparison. It was found that compared with typical PVC-SG5 preparation, ACL/PVC fabrication took less time while initiator concentrations needed to be increased to 2400 ppm in ACLN/PVC preparation in order to complete the polymerization within the same time. Reactor scaling occurred during ACL/PVC preparation, but could be avoided in ACLN/PVC preparation owing to the hydrophilicity of ACLN. The morphology of ACL/PVC and ACLN/PVC particles was smooth microspheres and mosaic particle shapes, respectively, the diameter of which were all smaller than PVC-SG5 particles. The covalent-bonding existing in ACL/PVC and ACLN/PVC, and ionic-bond formation of quaternary ammonium in ACLN/PVC composite resins, between tertiary amine groups in ACLN and chlorine atoms in PVC, contributed to the dramatic increase in thermal stability. ACLN/PVC exhibited the shortest plasticizing time and the longest elongation at break, followed by ACL/PVC. The toughness of both ACL/PVC and ACLN/PVC were greatly enhanced without affecting the tensile strength and softening temperature of the resin. Thus, three issues, namely, low thermal stability, low toughness and reactor scaling during polymerization of PVC have been comprehensively solved by introducing ACLN to PVC through a one-pot method.