Effect of some sodium bisulfite adducts of different chain lengths on the course of the emulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate

Abstract

AbstractThe emulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate using some bisulfite adducts of different chain lengths with potassium persulfate as the redox initiation system, in the absence of emulsifier, was studied. The effects of such adducts, which contain the same weight equivalent of bisulfite anion, on the rate of polymerization, maximum conversion, and stability of the produced polymer lattices as well as the morphological characteristics including volume‐average diameters and the number of polymer particles per unit volume of water were investigated. The rate of polymerization was found to be dependent on the concentration of benzaldehyde, acetaldehyde, octyl aldehyde, methyl propyl ketone, and acetone sodium bisulfite adducts to the powers 0.54, 0.66, 0.95, 1.0, and 1.1, respectively. Also, it was found that increasing adduct chain lengths decreases the volume‐average diameter, increases the obtained lattice stability, and improves the morphology of the polymeric particles, where a spherical morphology and extra stability were obtained in the presence of the octyl aldehyde adduct. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.