Copolymers of Poly(butyl acrylate): Synthesis, Characterization and Compositional Analysis

Abstract

This investigation reports the synthesis and characterization of colloidal latices of butyl acrylate (BA) and its copolymers with styrene (Sty) and acrylonitrile (ACN). The copolymers of BA with Sty, P(BA-co-Sty) and with ACN, P(BA-co-ACN) were synthesized via emulsion polymerization using two different thermal initiators, ammonium persulfate (APS) and potassium persulfate (KPS). Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used as surfactant in both the cases. The polymerizations were carried out at 70 ºC for 0.5 h. Attempts had also been made to prepare copolymers with different monomer composition. The progress of the polymerizations with time was monitored by measuring the conversion of monomers gravimetrically. The prepared lattices were characterized by GPC, UV-Vis, FT-IR and 1H NMR analyses. All the prepared lattices were transparent as evident by the UV-visible analysis. The FT-IR and 1H NMR analysis of the purified copolymers confirmed the successful preparation of the copolymers. The molar composition of the co-monomers in the copolymer was calculated by 1H NMR analysis.