For more than 70 years, understanding of the mechanism of particle nucleation in emulsion polymerization has been one of the most challenging issues in heterophase polymerization research.
Within this work a comprehensive experimental study of particle nucleation in emulsion polymerization of styrene at 70 °C and variety of conditions has been performed. To follow the onset of nucleation, on-line conductivity measurements were applied. This technique is highly sensitive to the mobility of conducting species and hence, it can be employed to follow aggregation processes leading to particle formation. On the other hand, by recording the optical transmission (turbidity) of the reaction mixture particle growth was followed. Complementary to the on-line investigations, off-line characterizations of the particle morphology and the molecular weight have been performed. The aim was to achieve a better insight in the processes taking place after starting the reaction via particle nucleation until formation of colloidally stable latex particles.
With this experimental protocol the initial period of styrene emulsion polymerization in the absence as well as in the presence of various surfactants (concentrations above and below the critical micellization concentration) and also in the presence of seed particles has been investigated. Ionic and non-ionic initiators (hydrophilic and hydrophobic types) have been applied to start the polymerizations.
Following the above algorithm, experimental evidence has been obtained showing the possibility of performing surfactant-free emulsion polymerization of styrene with oil-soluble initiators. The duration of the pre-nucleation period (that is the time between starting the polymerization and nucleation) can be precisely adjusted with the initiator hydrophobicity, the equilibration time of styrene in water, and the surfactant concentration. Spontaneous emulsification of monomer in water, as soon as both phases are brought into contact, is a key factor to explain the experimental results. The equilibration time of monomer in water as well as the type and concentration of other materials in water (surfactants, seed particles, etc.) control the formation rate and the size of the emulsified droplets and thus, have a strong influence on the particle nucleation and the particle morphology.
One of the main tasks was to investigate the effect of surfactant molecules and especially micelles on the nucleation mechanism. Experimental results revealed that in the presence of emulsifier micelles the conductivity pattern does not change essentially. This means that the presence of emulsifiers does not change the mechanism of particle formation qualitatively. However, surfactants assist in the nucleation process as they lower the activation free energy of particle formation. Contrary, seed particles influence particle nucleation, substantially. In the presence of seed particles above a critical volume fraction the formation of new particles can be suppressed. However, micelles and seed particles as absorbers exhibit a common behavior under conditions where monomer equilibration is not allowed.
Results prove that the nucleation mechanism comprises the initiation of water soluble oligomers in the aqueous phase followed by their aggregation. The process is heterogeneous in nature due to the presence of monomer droplets. / Polymere dominieren unsere Welt. Die natürlich vorkommenden Polymeren, wie Proteine, Polynukleotide, und Polysaccharide, sind nötig um das Leben zu erhalten. Ebenso wichtig sind die kommerziell erhältlichen Makromoleküle. Beides sind Bausteine, um Materialien zu konstruieren, welche man in beiden Welten finden kann- der natürlichen und der „Mensch-gemachten“ Welt.
Unter den verschiedenen Polymerisationsmethoden hat sich die Emulsions-polymerisation zu einem weit verbreiteten Prozess entwickelt. Die Emulsionspolymerisation ist ein einzigartiger Polymerisationsprozess, bei dem ein Monomer oder ein Gemisch von Monomeren in einem wässrigen Medium polymerisiert wird. Dabei entsteht eine Dispersion von Polymeren, welche auch als Latex bezeichnet wird. Derzeit werden mehrere Millionen Tonnen von synthetischen Latices mit Hilfe der Emulsionspolymerisation hergestellt. Diese finden zum Beispiel Verwendung als synthetische Gummi, Latexschaum, Latexfarben, Papierbeschichtungen und Klebstoffen. Außerdem findet man sie auch bei Spezialanwendungen, wie Diagnosetests, Pharmakotherapien und chromatographischen Trennmethoden.
Trotz der Vielzahl von industriellen Anwendungen, sollten all jenen, die sich mit Emulsionspolymerisation beschäftigen, den wissenschaftlichen und technologischen Herausforderungen, die sich stellen, bewusst sein. Die wichtigsten Fragen beim Umgang mit der Emulsionspolymerisation beinhalten das Verständnis des Prozesses der Partikelbildung und des Partikelwachstums.
Die vorliegende Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der Frage der Keimbildungs-etappe in Emulsionspolymerisationen. Die Untersuchungen wurden mit Hilfe eines on-line Leitfähigkeitsmessverfahren sowie einigen off-line analytischen Experimenten durchgeführt. Basierend auf den klaren experimentellen Daten, wurde ein besserer Einblick in die tatsächlichen Zustände des Polymerisationssystems, von der Zeit der neu geboren Kerne bis zu endgültig stabilisierten Teilchen, gewonnen.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:Potsdam/oai:kobv.de-opus-ubp:1752 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Nazaran, Pantea |
| Publisher | Universität Potsdam, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät. Institut für Chemie |
| Source Sets | Potsdam University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text.Thesis.Doctoral |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/ |
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