Use of the HLB system in selecting emulsifiers for emulsion polymerization

Abstract

AbstractIn the present work a wide variety of nonionic emulsifiers and anionic/nonionic blends of emulsifiers were evaluated in the emulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate and styrene. It was found that the emulsion stability and other polymer emulsion properties are often dependent upon a certain property of the emulsifier known as the HLB value. It has been shown elsewhere that the HLB value can be correlated with a fundamental physical property of the system oil–water–emulsifier, namely, the spreading coefficient of the internal phase liquid on the surface of a 1% solution of the emulsifier in the external phase. In the emulsion polymerization of styrene, good emulsion stability coupled with adequate conversion rate was obtained in an emulsifier HLB range of 13 to 16. For certain emulsifier blends it was found that emulsion viscosity and emulsion particle size were strongly dependent on the HLB of the emulsifier. Similar comments apply to vinyl acetate polymerization, except that the most stable emulsions were obtained with emulsifiers in an HLB range from 14.5 to 17.5. These observations on preferred HLB range apply only to nonionic emulsifiers and anionic/nonionic emulsifier blends, which were the emulsifier types screened in the present investigation. For both styrene and vinyl acetate the most generally satisfactory emulsion properties were obtained in the present work by the use of an anionic/nonionic emulsifier blend (G‐3300/G‐3920).