Emulsion co- and terpolymerization of styrene, methyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate. II. Control of emulsion terpolymer microstructure with optimal addition profiles

Abstract

An optimal addition profile for the preparation of a chemically homogeneous emulsion terpolymer of styrene, methyl methacrylate, and methyl acrylate was determined using a recently developed model for describing composition drift in emulsion co- and terpolymerizations. TRISEPS, described in Part I of this series. The model uses recently published simplified equations to describe monomer partitioning and the terminal model for describing terpolymer composition. The optimal addition rate profile was determined from the calculated optimal addition profile with a purely empirical and iterative method. With gradient polymer elution chromatography (GPEC®) the homogeneity and/or heterogeneity of the terpolymers prepared in the iterative series of experiments could be determined and compared to the heterogeneity of the corresponding batch terpolymer described in Part I. It was shown that a homogeneous terpolymer could be obtained indicating that the simplified equations for monomer partitioning and the terminal model for terpolymer composition describe the system adequately. It was also shown that GPEC® was useful in the determination of the optimal addition rate profile. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.