Article
Polymer Science
Alexandros E. Alexakis, Olivia R. Wilson, Eva Malmström
Summary: The combination of RAFT polymerization and PISA can produce monodisperse nanolatexes. This study demonstrates the synthesis of reproducible bimodal nanolatexes by extending protonated PDMAEMA with MMA in water and provides the first imaging data. The bimodality is induced by the hydrophilic Z-group of the RAFT agent, which has been reported to cause bimodal molecular weight distributions in RAFT-mediated PISA. The advantages of such nanolatexes in coating applications are briefly explored, including their one-pot synthesis, higher contact angle against water when adsorbed on cellulose filter paper, and morphological arrangement dependent on the drying protocol.
Article
Polymer Science
Sujey G. Castellanos, V. Vladimir A. Fernandez-Escamilla, Miguel A. Corona-Rivera, Karla J. Gonzalez-Iniguez, Arturo Barrera, Francisco J. Moscoso-Sanchez, Edgar B. Figueroa-Ochoa, Israel Ceja, Martin Rabelero, Jacobo Aguilar
Summary: Coagulative nucleation in the copolymerization of methyl methacrylate-butyl acrylate (MMA-BA) is reported under monomer-starved conditions in latexes with high solid content and low surfactant concentrations. The use of semicontinuous emulsion heterophase polymerization (SEHP) allows the synthesis of latex with high colloidal stability. The study investigates the particle size, surfactant coverage area, particle coagulation rate, and other parameters during the copolymerization process.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
F. Joseph Schork
Summary: This article presents a simple mathematical model for studying the transport of monomers in batch emulsion homopolymerization. The Damkohler number is introduced to describe the monomer transport and is calculated for common monomers. Furthermore, the analysis is extended to batch binary copolymerization, as well as more industrially relevant cases of batch terpolymerization, starved-feed copolymerization, and the combination of the two.
MACROMOLECULAR REACTION ENGINEERING
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Jorge Herrera-Ordonez
Summary: This article provides a personal vision and updated critical review on the controversial aspects of conventional emulsion polymerization (EP). It discusses the mechanisms and kinetics of EP and highlights the challenges and improvements needed in understanding particle formation, colloidal stability, and particle size distribution. The review also emphasizes the alternatives to the traditional mathematical description of diffusion-controlled processes.
ADVANCES IN COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Chung-Hao Liu, Catherine Cheu, John G. Barker, Lin Yang, Mu-Ping Nieh
Summary: A well-defined discoidal bicelle composed of three lipids, DPPC, DHPC, and DPPG, can serve as a generalized template for the synthesis of hydrophobic polymer nano-rings. Styrene monomers migrate to the rim region during polymerization, forming well-defined nano-rings. This facile synthesis method is applicable to various hydrophobic monomers, and the nano-rings have a large interfacial area, making them potential building blocks for functional materials.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Yongan Hu, Martin Ocepek, Mark D. Soucek
Summary: The study found that secondary nucleation in emulsion polymerization of BA, St, and HEMA is mainly affected by high HEMA content (10-40 mol%), while it is dependent on the BA to St monomer ratio at low HEMA content (1-5 mol%), reflecting the hydrophobicity of z-mer.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lei Li, Jie Cen, Wenhao Pan, Yuben Zhang, Xuanxi Leng, Zhengqi Tan, Hao Yin, Shiyong Liu
Summary: By utilizing N-phenoxycarbonyl-functionalized alpha-amino acid (NPCA) as a precursor for NCA polymerization and primary amine hydrochloride as an initiator, high-quality polypeptides can be successfully synthesized with successful synthesis of random and block copolypeptides.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
F. Joseph Schork
Summary: The study reveals that higher molecular weight acrylates and methacrylates are limited by monomer transport in emulsion polymerization.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xinyi Shen, Yue Zhang, Duanda Wang, Yanling Huang, Yongyang Song, Shutao Wang
Summary: Polymer-based magnetic particles have been widely used for the separation of biological samples. A new strategy of mediator monomer regulated emulsion interfacial polymerization is presented, which allows effective loading of magnetic nanoparticles and efficient nucleic acid separation. This strategy offers an effective and versatile way for the synthesis of nanoFMPs toward efficient separation in various fields.
Article
Polymer Science
Murtaza Khan, Thiago R. Guimaraes, Kenneth Choong, Graeme Moad, Sebastien Perrier, Per B. Zetterlund
Summary: The study overcomes the limitation of block copolymer synthesis that requires consideration of the order of blocks by utilizing RAFT emulsion polymerization, successfully preparing an alternating pentablock copolymer composed of methacrylates and styrene.
Article
Polymer Science
Olivia R. Monaghan, Stephen T. Skowron, Jonathan C. Moore, Maria Pin-No, Kristoffer Kortsen, Rachel L. Atkinson, Eduards Krumins, Joachim C. Lentz, Fabricio Machado, Zeynep Onat, Adam Brookfield, David Collison, Andrei N. Khlobystov, Davide De Focatiis, Derek J. Irvine, Vincenzo Taresco, Robert A. Stockman, Steven M. Howdle
Summary: This study reports the discovery and analysis of a self-crosslinking sustainable terpene derived monomer, alpha-pinene methacrylate (alpha PMA), and investigates its behavior through computational and experimental methods. The monomer undergoes self-crosslinking during free radical polymerization by chain transfer through hydrogen abstraction from a pendant group. This self-crosslinking process can be exploited to generate renewable high internal phase emulsions.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Trevor Franklin, Rong Yang
Summary: Non-spherical polymer nanoparticles with tunable morphology have great potential in drug delivery, sensing, and soft robotics. However, their development is currently limited by the laborious synthesis and limited control over particle morphology. To address this issue, a facile synthesis technique called condensed droplet polymerization (CDP) is demonstrated to obtain non-spherical particles with different morphologies. A unique in situ digital microscopy is employed to observe the evolution of particle morphology in real time during monomer evaporation. By investigating the effect of fundamental properties, including monomer propagation constant and polymer glass transition temperature, on particle morphology, a framework for understanding the fundamental mechanisms of particle morphology formation is established, leading to improved control over polymer morphology in CDP with various practical applications.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Polymer Science
Feng Zhong, Cai-Yuan Pan
Summary: This study compared dispersion polymerization with emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization in terms of nucleation mechanism, polymerization kinetics, and nano-object morphology, highlighting the crucial factors of solubility of core-forming monomer in water and efficient agitation for the fabrication of nonspherical nano-objects.
MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Lei Dong, Shuaishuai Dai, Guangling He, Haizhou Zhao, Liangmin Yu, Li Wang
Summary: In this study, lipophilic monomer tackifying hydrogel with good adhesion ability on organic substrates was successfully prepared by soap-free emulsion polymerization. The hydrogel exhibited considerable inhibitory ability on biological attachment in a real marine environment.
PROGRESS IN ORGANIC COATINGS
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Alicia Cintora, Florian Kafer, Chenyun Yuan, Christopher K. Ober
Summary: In this study, aqueous miniemulsion polymerization based on Activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET) atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was used to investigate the effects of hydrophobicity of monomers on dispersity, molecular weight, and particle stability. The results showed that monomers with higher hydrophobicity exhibited narrower dispersity and better control, while monomers with higher hydrophilicity led to reduced emulsion stability. This research provides insights into controlled polymerizations of hydrophilic monomers using ARGET-ATRP in miniemulsion conditions, with implications for synthesis of polymer-grafted nanoparticles with hydrophilic corona.
JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE
(2022)