ANALYSIS OF PROCESSES IN LATEX SYSTEMS BY FOURIER-TRANSFORM RAMAN-SPECTROSCOPY

Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy near-infrared (NIR) laser excitat ion was used to follow an emulsion polymerization reaction involving m ethyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate and allyl methacrylate monomers in a water continuous phase. The effect of NIR absorption is discussed in relation to the monomers and water. For the system studied, only part s of the spectrum are shown to suffer from significant self-absorption due to the water. Fortunately, for monitoring the polymerization reac tion through the loss in the band due to the symmetric C=C stretch, se lf-absorption is shown not to play a significant role.