Surfactant concentration effects on the microemulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate

The polymerization of vinyl acetate in oil-in-water microemulsions stabilized with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is reported here as a function of surfactant concentration. Reaction rate decreases as the CTAB/water ratio is increased in the parent microemulsions. Polymer particles in the latexes grow with conversion; they also become bigger as the initial surfactant content is increased. Number-average molar masses are smaller than those expected by termination by chain transfer to monomer, but weight-average molar masses increased as the surfactant concentration in the parent microemulsion is raised. However, the latter are much smaller than those obtained by polymerization in an emulsion stabilized with the same surfactant. Possible explanations to this unusual behavior are provided here. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved