Stability of the dispersed system in inverse emulsion polymerization of ionic acrylate monomers

Abstract

Inverse emulsions based on acrylamide (AA), acrylonitrile (AN), and 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS), and their polymers have been obtained using surfactant mixture containing Span 80 and Tween 80. The stability of these monomer and polymer inverse emulsions has been studied. Ionic monomers, AA and AMPS, have been found to give a significant contribution to the emulsion stability. The effect has been close to that of Tween 80, i.e., hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) has been improved. The spinning drop method has been used for the study of interfacial tension (IFT) kinetics. The parameters of the inverse emulsions, including ionogenic monomer concentration, have been found to change the IFT kinetics pattern. The onset of IFT equilibrium has been shown to be comparable to the duration of radical copolymerization. AA-AN-AMPSNa terpolymer was synthesized via radical copolymerization in inverse emulsion. No significant effect of radical terpolymerization on the average particle size and stability of inverse emulsions has been observed.