Interstage rapid cooling method

First-stage polymerization of styrene in ether (33.4 g styrene, 0.200 g ether, 0.34 g V-65, or AIBN in a 300-ml Parr reactor system) was carried out at 80°C up to five times initiator half-life. Then, the reactor fluid was withdrawn through a 1/8-in. copper tube that is immersed in ice-water bath. The cold reactor fluid was collected into a 1000-ml glass reactor that contains 400 ml distilled water and 12 g acrylic acid (AA). The mixture was continuously mixed at room temperature for at least 2 h in order to soak-in the AA monomer into the polymer-rich domains. Then, the 

It is evident that the use of V-65 resulted in an improvement in the amount of middle emulsion layer formed. Also, the interstage cooling seems to improve further the amount of the middle emulsion layer. Since we found that about 20 wt% of the bottom sludge to be emulsifiable in hot water, we can assume that the sludge is mostly polystyrene homopolymer. The top layer could be surmised to be relatively low molecular weight homopolystyrene. 

Product Initiator Interstage rapid cooling % Conversion Top middle emulsion sludge wt/wt/wt 

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