Redox for Main Polymerization of Emulsion Polymers

摘要

Redox reactions have been used successfully for decades in emulsion polymerization to reduce free monomer after main polymerization. New work will be presented on the benefits redox chemistry can bring for initiating main polymerization as opposed to using a conventional thermal initiation. By utilizing redox chemistry in main polymerization, lower polymerization temperatures are possible. Work has also shown that the resulting polymers have lower free monomer than conventional thermal polymerizations prior to the monomer chase. After utilizing a redox chase, the residual free monomer in the redox initiated reaction is more than ten times less than the product which used a thermal initiation for the main reaction. The ability to start the polymerization at lower temperature and allowing the reaction to heat adiabatically may also offer shorter cycle times and cleaner reactions. It is also expected that the lower temperature polymerization will result in a more linear, higher molecular weight emulsion polymer that should give improved performance.