Influence of the polymeric hydrophobe on the kinetics of vinyl acetate miniemulsion polymerization

The influence of polymeric hydrophobes on the stabilization and kinetics of the vinyl acetate miniemulsion polymerization was investigated by conducting reactions in batch mode of miniemulsions prepared with poly(vinyl acetate) or polystyrene as cosurfactants. The results were compared with a miniemulsion stabilized with hexadecane and with the conventional emulsion. The shelf life stability analysis showed that miniemulsions prepared with polymer as the unique cosurfactant were not stable. However, the appearance of the separated phases was not similar to the conventional emulsion, which was interpreted as the formation of small monomer swollen particles in the case of the miniemulsion. The kinetic analysis confirmed the different nucleation mechanism of these unstable miniemulsions compared with the conventional emulsion.