Diene‐based polymer nanoparticles: Preparation and direct catalytic latex hydrogenation |
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Authors: | Hui Wang Qinmin Pan Garry L Rempel |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1;2. College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Material Science, Soochow University, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, People's Republic of China |
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Abstract: | The diene‐based polymer nanoparticles represented by poly(butadiene‐co‐acrylonitrile) were prepared in the semibatch emulsion polymerization system using Gemini surfactant (GS) trimethylene‐1,3‐bis(dodecyldimethylammonium bromide) as the emulsifier. The nanoparticles within the range of 17–54 nm were achieved with narrow molecular weight and particle size distributions. A spherical morphology was observed for the produced nanoparticles. The effects of GS concentration on the particle size, molecular weight, polymerization conversion and solid content, and composition of copolymer were investigated. The semibatch process using monomeric and conventional surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was compared. At the second stage of this study, the prepared unsaturated nanoparticles were employed as the substrates for the latex hydrogenation in the presence of Wilkinson's catalyst, that is, RhCl(P(C6H5)3)3. The effects of the particle size and catalyst concentration on the latex hydrogenation rate were investigated. The particle size is found to have a significant effect on the reaction rate. When the 17‐nm nanoparticles were used as the substrates, a high conversion of 95 mol % was obtained within 18 h using only 0.1 wt % RhCl(P(C6H5)3)3. The latex hydrogenation process was completely free of organic solvents. The present synthesis and following “green” hydrogenation process can be extended to latices made from semibatch emulsion containing other diene‐based polymers. This study shows great promise for decreasing the demanded quantity of expensive catalyst and eliminating the organic solvent in the hydrogenation process. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012 |
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Keywords: | catalysis diene‐based polymer nanoparticles emulsion polymerization functionalization of polymers gemini surfactant latex hydrogenation nanoparticles reaction rate semibatch emulsion polymerization surfactants synthesis |
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