Syntheses of cardanol-based cationic surfactants and their use in emulsion polymerisation

Six quaternary ammonium salts were designed and synthesised with moderate to high yields in three steps, based on cardanol, a low-cost and abundant renewable resource. The new ammonium salts can act as reactive surfactants due to their having both a hydrophilic ammonium group and a hydrophobic unsaturated alkyl chain. The gemini surfactants with a linker of a linear saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon chain exhibited a relatively low CMC value (≤ 0.2 mmol L^?1) and surface tension (≤ 27 mN m^?1), signifying that this kind of amphiphile exhibited good surface active properties. The photo-active gemini surfactant with critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 0.05 mmol L^?1 was used successfully as the sole emulsifier in the emulsion polymerisation of methyl methacrylate (MMA). In addition, a benzyl bromide-containing surfactant can act as both an atom transfer radical polymerisation (ATRP) initiator and an emulsifier in an activator generated by the electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerisation (AGET ATRP) of MMA in emulsion. The value of the number-average molecular mass of the resulting cardanol-end poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is M_n,GPC = 45.1 kDa, with polydispersity of 1.39.