ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Emulsion copolymerization of acrylonitrile and butyl acrylate .9. The micellar and polymerization studies in the mixed emulsifier system

I. Capek, M. Mlynárová, and J. Bartoň

Polymer Institute, Centre for Chemical Research, Slovak Academy of Sciences, CS-842 36 Bratislava

Abstract: The free-radical emulsion copolymerization of acrylonitrile and butyl acrylate initiated by potassium peroxodisulfate at 60 °C in the presence of the blend of anionic and nonionic emulsifier has been investigated. The effect of the emulsifier blend composition on the surface tension of anionic —nonionic emulsifier systems at 30 °C has been described. Two kinds of micelles (one rich in anionic emulsifier and the other rich in nonionic one) coexisting in the present mixed emulsifier solutions were formed. The rate of polymerization was found to increase and the latex particle size to decrease with increasing concentration of the anionic emulsifier in the reaction system. An abrupt increase in the polymerization rate within the mole fraction range of the anionic emulsifier from 0 to 0.1 and from 0.9 to 1.0 has been observed. Over the interval 2 the rate of polymerization is proportional to the 0.55 power of the final polymer particle number, to the 0.36 power of the anionic emulsifier concentration and to the 1.09 power of the total emulsifier con­centration.

Full paper in Portable Document Format: 426a763.pdf

Chemical Papers 42 (6) 763–772 (1988)