RAFT miniemulsion polymerization kinetics, 1 - Polymerization rate

Abstract

The polymerization kinetics of a RAFT-mediated radical polymerization inside submicron particles (30 <300 nm) is considered. When the time fraction of active radical period, ØA is larger than ca. 1%, the polymerization rate increases with reducing particle size, as for the cases of conventional emulsion polymerization. The rate retardation by the addition of RAFT agent occurs with or without intermediate termination in zero-one systems. For the particles with Dp < 100 nm, the statistical variation of monomer concentration among particles may not be neglected. It was found that this monomerconcentration-variation (MCV) effect may slow down the polymerization rate. An analytical expression describing the MCV effect is proposed, which is valid for both RAFT and conventional miniemulsion polymerizations. © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.