PVAc Microspheres via Semicontinuous Emulsion Polymerization: Synthesis, Characterization, Kinetic, and Surface Morphology Studies

Abstract

Poly (vinyl acetate) (PVAc) latexes are economically important products with many desirable features. They are used as adhesives for porous materials in various processing stages of industries. Synthesis parameters have an important role on the physico-chemical properties of PVAc latexes such as: viscosity, average molecular weight, degree of polymerization, and surface morphology. In this work, PVAc was prepared via semicontinous emulsion polymerization (delayed monomer and initiator addition process) in the presence of ammonium persulfate (APS) as conventional anionic initiator, poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as stabilizer, and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as anionic emulsifier. The surface morphology of PVAc microspheres was, examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). It is evident from the SEM photographs that all the particles became microspheres and are uniform in shape. The use of AFM for imaging of polyvinyl acetate confirms a typical sphere polymer. The effect of changes in the different parameters such as concentration of emulsifier, initiator concentration, and presence or absence of buffer on the vinyl acetate (VAc) conversion, the steady state polymerization rate, the viscosity-average molecular weight, and the final latex viscosity of synthesized PVAc were investigated. The effects of anionic emulsifier on the synthesized PVAc are also compared with those obtained by the nonionic emulsifier. The comparison indicated that the VAc monomer conversion and the final latex viscosity of the anionic system were higher than for the nonionic system but the viscosity-average polymer molecular weight of the anionic system was lower than that of the nonionic system. The adhesive strength of the synthesized PVAc latex was examined and the load and deflection data were reported.