STYRENE-TERMINATED POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL) MACROMONOMERS .2. FREE-RADICAL (CO)POLYMERIZATION STUDIES AND APPLICATION TO THE FUNCTIONALIZATION OF LATEX-PARTICLES

The kinetics of the radical-initiated solution homopolymerization of a styrene-terminated poly(vinyl alcohol) macromonomer with a degree of polymerization (DP) of 7-9 (A) and copolymerization with styrene (S) have been investigated at 60-degrees-C in deuterated dimethyl sulfoxide solution using azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator and H-1 n.m.r. as the analytical technique. It was found that the macromonomer exhibits a lower reactivity than styrene and a model monomer with DP = 0, which was confirmed by copolymerization with styrene (r(A) = 0.9 +/- 0.1 and r(S) = 1.3 +/- 0. 1). The hydrophilic macromonomer was then copolymerized onto seed polystyrene latex particles by a shot growth process, a more efficient surface yield being ensured by using polar comonomers like methyl methacrylate and acrylonitrile.