PARTICLE-SIZE AND MONOMER PARTITIONING IN MICROEMULSION POLYMERIZATION - 1 - CALCULATION OF THE PARTICLE-SIZE DISTRIBUTION

Exact analytical expressions are derived for the particle size and mol ecular weight distributions formed in microemulsion polymerization. Th ese results follow directly from a mechanistic model of the polymeriza tion reaction which has been quantitatively validated in kinetic studi es. An additional mild assumption regarding radical exit is necessary, and it is assumed there is no particle coalescence. The theoretical d istributions are used to simulate results from quasielastic light scat tering and gel permeation chomatography. The shape of the predicted pa rticle size distributions and the effect of initiator concentration, m icroemulsion composition, and conversion on the average particle size all agree with experiment.