Summary
A nonionic surfactant, nonylphenol polyethoxylate with an average of 40 ethylene oxides per molecule (NP-40), in combination with a reactive cosurfactant such as dodecyl methacrylate (DMA) or stearyl methacrylate (SMA) was used to prepare stable styrene miniemulsions in this study. Like conventional cosurfactants such as cetyl alcohol (CA) and hexadecane (HD), the reagent DMA or SMA may act as a cosurfactant in stabilizing the homogenized miniemulsions. Furthermore, the methacrylate group can be chemically incorporated into latex particles in subsequent miniemulsion polymerization, as shown by the IR spectra. The rate of Ostwald ripening for these miniemulsions in the decreasing order is: CA > DMA > HD ∼ SMA. This trend correlates well with the water solubility of these cosurfactants. The lower the levels of NP-40 and DMA, the greater is the degree of Ostwald ripening. This is because the DMA concentration is not high enough to counteract diffusional degradation of monomer droplets. Polystyrene latex particles were produced via both monomer droplet nucleation and homogeneous (or micellar) nucleation for the system exhibiting strong Ostwald ripening and/or droplet coalescence during the very early stage of polymerization. On the other hand, monomer droplet nucleation becomes more important for the system showing weak Ostwald ripening. Temperature has an important influence on the shelf-life of miniemulsions and subsequent polymerization. This is attributed to the fact that hydrogen bonds between the polyethylene oxide part of NP-40 and water are quite sensitive to changes in temperature.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ugelstad J, El-Aasser MS, Vanderhoff JW (1973) Polym Lett 11:503
Ugelstad J, Hansen FK, Lange S (1974) Die Makromol Chem 175:507
Durbin DP, El-Aasser MS, Sudol ED, Vanderhoff JW (1979) J Appl Polym Sci 24:703
Chamberlain BJ, Napper DH, Gilbert RG (1982) J Chem Soc Faraday Trans 178:591
Kabalnov AS, Schukin ED (1992) Adv Colloid Interface Sci 38:69
Chern CS, Chen TJ (1997) Colloid Polym Sci 275:546
Napper D (1983) Polymeric Stabilization of Colloidal Dispersions. Academic Press, London
Chen LJ, Lin SY, Chern CS, Wu SC (1997) Colloids Surfaces A 122:161
Demond AH, Lindner AS (1993) Environ Sci Technol 27:2318
Choi YT, Sudol ED, Vanderhoff JW, El-Aasser MS (1985) J Polym Sci Polym Chem Ed 23:2973
Priest WJ (1952) J Phys Chem 56:1977
Fitch RM, Tsai CH (1971) In: Fitch RM (ed) Polymer Colloids. Plenum Press, New York, pp 73–116
Fitch RM (1973) Br Polym J 5:467
Harkins WD (1947) J Am Chem Soc 69:1428
Smith WV, Ewart RW (1948) J Chem Phys 16:592
Smith WV (1948) J Am Chem Soc 70:3695
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chern, C.S., Chen, T.J. Miniemulsion polymerization of styrene stabilized by nonionic surfactant and reactive cosurfactant. Colloid Polym Sci 275, 1060–1067 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003960050184
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003960050184