Determination of residual monomer in polymer latex by full evaporation headspace gas chromatography

This study demonstrated a full evaporation (FE) headspace gas chromatographic technique for the determination of residual monomer in methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymer latex. A very small amount (similar to10-30 mg) of latex was added to a scaled headspace sample vial (20 ml). A near-complete monomer mass transfer from both liquid (aqueous phase) and solid phase (polymer particles) to the vapor phase (headspace) is achieved within 5 min at a temperature of 110 degreesC. The method eliminates sample pretreatment procedures such as the solvent extraction. Thus, it avoids the risk of polymer deposition on the GC system caused by a directly injection of extraction solvent in the conventional GC monomer analysis. The present method is simple, rapid, and accurate. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.