MICROEMULSION POLYMERIZATION OF BUTYL ACRYLATE .3. EFFECT OF THE MONOMER CONCENTRATION

The oil-in-water (o/w) microemulsion polymerizations of butyl acrylate initiated with a water-soluble (ammonium peroxodisulfate, AP) and/or an oil-soluble (dibenzoyl peroxide, DBP) radical initiator at differen t monomer feed compositions and monomer concentrations were investigat ed. The rate of polymerization shows nucleation and termination interv als. The rate of polymerization is found to increase with the BA conce ntration. The polymerization is faster with AP than with DBP. The aver age number of radicals per particle increases exponentially with both the monomer concentration and the particle size. The number of particl es decreases with monomer concentration. The molecular weights paralle l the rate of polymerization and are larger in the systems with DBP.