MINIEMULSION POLYMERIZATION OF STYRENE IN THE PRESENCE OF PREFORMED POLYMERS WITH VARIED COMPATIBILITY

LUDMILA IRENE RONCO; ROQUE JAVIER MINARI; JORGE RUBÉN VEGA; LUIS MARCELINO GUGLIOTTA

Bahía Blanca

Simposio; Simposio Argentino de Polímeros 2011; 2011

Waterborne hybrid latexes are an opportunity for developing new products based on the synergy effects of highly compatible compounds. Polystyrene / rubber hybrid systems allow the production of nanoparticles with high impact resistance. Unfortunately, polystyrene (PS) and polybutadiene (PB) are incompatible and tend to produce phase separation. Miniemulsion (ME) polymerizations allow the incorporation of hydrophobic components (like PB based-rubbers) into PS particles. The molecular structure of the preformed polymer, the formulation and the polymerization conditions affect the phase compatibilization. In this work, ME polymerizations are used to synthesize waterborne PS/PB based-rubber (linear PB and styrene-butadiene randomly-branched copolymer: SBR) nanocomposites. Also, the compatible system that involves PS as pre-dissolved polymer was studied. The effect of ME conditions and the nature and molecular weights of the preformed polymer on kinetics and latex compatibilization, was analyzed.