Polymerization of vinyl acetate in microemulsions stabilized with dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

Abstract

The polymerization of vinyl acetate in microemulsions stabilized with dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) or mixture of these surfactants is examined. The polymerization rate diminishes as the surfactant mixture becomes richer in DTAB. Also, particles grow with conversion and become increasingly larger as the DTAB content in the mixture increases. Our results indicate that chain transfer reactions to monomer are more important than chain transfer reactions to polymer even at high conversions with CTAB. However, as the content of DTAB increases, bimolecular termination induced by coagulation, terminal double bond polymerization and chain transfer reactions to polymer become increasingly more important.