Precipitation polymerization of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate in supercritical carbon dioxide

We report the successful precipitation polymerization of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) at pressures ranging from 15 to 27 MPa utilizing 2, 2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as a free radical initiator. The effects of the reaction pressure, initiator concentration, monomer concentration, reaction temperature, and reaction time were investigated. Analyses by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that in all reaction conditions, polymerization in the absence of stabilizer led to the formation of large aggregates of partially coalesced particles, with diameters of approximate 1–10 µm. Analyses by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) indicated that for the reaction pressure, initiator concentration, monomer concentration, reaction temperature, and reaction time studied there are appreciable effect on product molecular weight. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.