THE INVERSE EMULSION POLYMERIZATION OF ACRYLAMIDE WITH PENTAERYTHRITOLMYRISTATE AS EMULSIFIER - 2 - MATHEMATICAL-MODELING

A mathematical model of the inverse emulsion polymerization of aqueous acrylamide solutions in isooctane as dispersing media with the chemic ally pure emulsifier pentaerythritolmonomyristate and an oil-soluble a zo initiator has been developed. A Monte Carlo method was used success fully to calculate the kinetics, molar mass averages and average parti cle sizes. The computation time of the method was reduced by calculati ng the chain length of the polymer molecules via the life-time of the radicals. It is shown that a few assumptions based on the mirror image of an ideal conventional emulsion polymerization with Smith-Ewart cas e 2 kinetics are sufficient to comprehensively describe the experiment al findings. (C) 1998 SCI.