PARTICLE COAGULATION AT SEMICONTINUOUS EMULSION POLYMERIZATION .1. SOME FACTORS AFFECTING THE PROCESS

The factors affecting the amount of coagulum appearing during the semicontinuous emulsion polymerization of acrylic monomers were studied. Monomers were added into the polymerization reactor in the form of emulsion. The stability of the polymerization system was greatly affected by the distribution ratio of a constant amount of emulsifier between the initial charge in the polymerization reactor and the monomer emulsion. The amount of arising coagulum was dependent also on the alkyl length of the alkyl acrylate and increased from ethyl acrylate to 2‐ethylhexyl acrylate. The amount of appearing coagulum was essentially decreased by copolymerization with acrylic acid and sulfoethyl methacrylate, respectively. In the case of insufficient covering of particle surface by emulsifier, the colloid stability of polymerizing system was greatly increased by the presence of strong as well as weak acid groups chemically bound on the particle surface. Copyright © 1979 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.