Manufacturers polymeric flocculants

A broad range of polymers are produced by polymerization in heterogeneous media, including polyolefins manufactured by slurry (high density polyethylene and isotactic polypropylene) and gas phase (linear low density polyethylene and high density polyethylene) polymerization coatings and adhesives produced by emulsion and miniemulsion polymerization flocculants obtained by inverse emulsion and microemulsion polymerization poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and polystyrene produced by suspension polymerization and toners synthesized by dispersion polymerization. As a whole, they represent more than 50% of the polymer produced worldwide [1]. 

Abstract Flocculation processes are of great importance for numerous industrial processes, such as paper manufacture, mining, and the treatment of industrial and municipal waste waters. Polymeric flocculants having molecular weights up to 1 10 g/mol are generally used for this purpose. 

Used industrially in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, textile chemicals, adhesives, binders, petroleum refining chemicals, fuels, lubricants, coating resins, varnishes, polymerizations, lacquers, agricultural chemicals, cosmetics, ion exchange resins, photographic chemicals, surfactants used in the paper industry and as a flocculation aid. 

Styrene-butadiene copolymers are extremely important to the rubber industry. They are particularly important in tire manufacture. Styrene-butadiene polymer is produced by emulsion polymerization and solution polymerization. Most of the volume is by emulsion polymerization. This affords the opportunity to prepare polymer nanocomposites by several avenues. One can blend an aqueous dispersion of the nanoparticles with the styrene-butadiene latex before flocculation to produce the rubber crumb, disperse an organically treated nanoparticle in the styrene-butadiene solution polymer before the solvent is stripped from the polymer, disperse the organically treated nanoparticles into the monomers, or prepare the rubber nanocomposite in the traditional compounding approach. One finds all of these approaches in the literature. One also finds functional modifications of the styrene-butadiene polymer in the literature designed to improve the efficiency of the dispersion and interaction of the nanoparticles with the polymer. 

PTFE is commercially manufactured in an aqueous emulsion polymerization process. Typically, the polymerization is carried out at about 80 °C, and is initiated with K2S2O8. The polymer is insoluble in the reaction medium, and, therefore, precipitates during the polymerization. Normally, about 0.1 % w/w of a perfluorinated surfactant, such as (C7F15COONH4), is used to improve the dissolution of the monomer, tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) gas, and to prevent flocculation of the growing particles. 

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