Simultaneous Control of Molar Masses and Reaction Temperature in the Aqueous-Solution Polymerization of Acrylic Acid

CÁCERES, G.; MINARI, R.J.; VEGA, J.R.; GUGLIOTTA, L.M.

Heredia

Simposio; XII Simposio Latinoamericano de Polímeros SLAP 2010 - X Congreso Iberoamericano de Polímeros; 2010

Polymers containing acrylic acid (AA) are useful in a wide range of applications, depending on their molecular weight distribution (MWD). For instance, while the neutralized polyacrylic acid (PAA) of low molecular weight is used as sludge dispersant, high molecular weight PAA is employed as paint thickener and flocculating agent. The PAA is mainly produced by free-radical aqueous-solution polymerization. Due to the extremely high AA reactivity, it results difficult to control the reaction temperature (Tr) and the MWD under batch conditions. In this work, a semibatch polymerization strategy is proposed to simultaneously control the MWD and Tr.