Automated batch emulsion copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate

This article describes a method for carrying out emulsion copolymerization using an automated synthesizer. For this purpose, batch emulsion copolymerizations of styrene and butyl acrylate were investigated. The optimization of the polymerization system required tuning the liquid transfer method, sufficient oxygen removal from the reaction medium and setting a proper sampling procedure. The monomer conversion-time plots obtained with gas chromatography revealed a good reproducibility of the automated reaction kinetics. Furthermore, the particle size distributions and the properties of the final products were found to be highly reproducible. The performance of the automated reactions was subsequently compared with the conventional ones: similar reproducibility of either synthetic method was observed