Living radical polymerisation in emulsion and miniemulsion

This chapter surveys the literature on the use of living radical polymerisation (LRP) in aqueous dispersed systems such as emulsion and miniemulsion, provides some mechanistic understanding, and describes the advantages and limitations of the various techniques. It describes the general features of the various LRP techniques in bulk and solution. The chapter provides the reader with the mechanistic pathways of each technique and the kinetic parameters used to control the rate of polymerisation, the molar mass and molar mass distribution. It explains the three main techniques of control, namely nitroxide-mediated polymerisation (NMP), atom transfer radical polymerisation (ATRP), and reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)), which are now able to produce well-defined polymers in an aqueous environment with a similar degree of livingness as in the bulk.