Acrylic polymer beads, dispersions

T Vispersions of acrylic polymer beads in rapidly polymerizable liquids are important biomaterials (I, 2). The biocompatibility and functionality of dental restoratives, dental prostheses, and surgical prostheses depend on the mechanical properties of these biopolymers as well as on their physical and chemical constitution. This investigation was part of a continuing program to determine the influence of microstructural parameters on the mechanical properties of these multiphase systems. The effects of the volume fractions of dispersed phase and matrix, molecular weight of the matrix, chain length and concentration of crosslinkers, impact modifiers, and filler were studied in terms of microstructure, hard-... 

Materials. The dispersed phase of the dispersions contained, by weight 98.07% acrylic polymer beads, 0.8% benzoyl peroxide (98% active), 1% red acetate fibers, 0.03% red pigments, and 0.1% Ti02 pigment. The acrylic polymer beads were a 50/50 wt/wt blend of two suspension polymerized poly (methyl methacrylate) polymers with solution molecular weights of 160,000 and 950,000. Additives to the dispersed phase were those described above. The polymers were each reduced 1 vol % on the total dispersion volume to compensate for the additives. 

Polystyrene used in injection molding is mamrfactured by the suspension bead process. Poly(methyl methacrylate) and its copolymers containing small amounts of acrylate esters are also produced by the bead suspension process. Clear transparent polymers are often required, so formulations involving Pickering dispersants (e.g., MgCOa) that can removed from the polymer with dilute acid after polymerization, are particularly advantageous. 

When a water-miscible polymer is to be made via a suspension process, the continuous phase is a water-immiscible fluid, often a hydrocarbon. In such circumstances the adjective inverse is often used to identify the process [118]. The drop phase is often an aqueous monomer solution which contains a water-soluble initiator. Inverse processes that produce very small polymer particles are sometimes referred to as inverse emulsion polymerization but that is often a misnomer because the polymerization mechanism is not always analogous to conventional emulsion polymerization. A more accurate expression is either inverse microsuspension or inverse dispersion polymerization. Here, as with conventional suspension polymerization, the polymerization reaction occurs inside the monomer-containing drops. The drop stabilizers are initially dispersed in the continuous (nonaqueous phase). If particulate solids are used for drop stabilization, the surfaces of the small particles must be rendered hydrophobic. Inverse dispersion polymerization is used to make water-soluble polymers and copolymers from monomers such as acrylic acid, acylamide, and methacrylic acid. These polymers are used in water treatment and as thickening agents for textile applications. Beads of polysaccharides can also be made in inverse suspensions but, in those cases, the polymers are usually preformed before the suspension is created. Physical changes, rather than polymerization reactions, occur in the drops. Conventional stirred reactors are usually used for inverse suspension polymerization and the drop size distribution can be fairly wide. However, Ni et al. [119] found that good control of DSD and PSD could be achieved in the inverse-phase suspension polymerization of acrylamide by using an oscillatory baffled reactor. 

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