Poly methyl methacrylate dispersions

LCFTs for poly(methyl methacrylate) dispersions stabilized by poly(dimethyl-siloxane) of different molecular weights... 

The chemical nature of the dispersion medium Everett and Stageman (1978a) prepared poly(methyl methacrylate) dispersions, of radius 111 nm, stabilized by poly(dimethylsiloxane) (molecular weight 20 000) in a range of n-alkanes. A comparison is presented in Fig. 8.4 of the UCFT of these latices, extrapolated to zero particle number concentration, with the 0i,-temperature of poly(dimethylsiloxane) as a function of the number of carbon atoms from ethane to n-hexane. Also shown are the critical temperatures for these dispersion media. 

New PHB materials are composed of Zn-tetraben2oporphyrin—aromatic cyanide—poly (methyl methacrylate) (180) or of tetraphenylporphyrin derivatives dispersed in polymer matrices such as PMMA and polyethylene (181). A survey of such materials has been given (181). 

Comparison of Table 5.4 and 5.7 allows the prediction that aromatic oils will be plasticisers for natural rubber, that dibutyl phthalate will plasticise poly(methyl methacrylate), that tritolyl phosphate will plasticise nitrile rubbers, that dibenzyl ether will plasticise poly(vinylidene chloride) and that dimethyl phthalate will plasticise cellulose diacetate. These predictions are found to be correct. What is not predictable is that camphor should be an effective plasticiser for cellulose nitrate. It would seem that this crystalline material, which has to be dispersed into the polymer with the aid of liquids such as ethyl alcohol, is only compatible with the polymer because of some specific interaction between the carbonyl group present in the camphor with some group in the cellulose nitrate. 

There are some indications that the situation described above has been realized, at least partially, in the system styrene-methyl methacrylate polymerized by metallic lithium.29 29b It is known51 that in a 50-50 mixture of styrene and methyl methacrylate radical polymerization yields a product of approximately the same composition as the feed. On the other hand, a product containing only a few per cent of styrene is formed in a polymerization proceeding by an anionic mechanism. Since the polymer obtained in the 50-50 mixture of styrene and methyl methacrylate polymerized with metallic lithium had apparently an intermediate composition, it has been suggested that this is a block polymer obtained in a reaction discussed above. Further evidence favoring this mechanism is provided by the fact that under identical conditions only pure poly-methyl methacrylate is formed if the polymerization is initiated by butyl lithium and not by lithium dispersion. This proves that incorporation of styrene is due to a different initiation and not propagation. 

Much work on the preparation of nonaqueous polymer dispersions has involved the radical polymerization of acrylic monomers in the presence of copolymers having the A block the same as the acrylic polymer in the particle core 2). The preparation of polymer dispersions other than polystyrene in the presence of a PS-PDMS diblock copolymer is of interest because effective anchoring of the copolymer may be influenced by the degree of compatibility between the PS anchor block and the polymer molecules in the particle core. The present paper describes the interpretation of experimental studies performed with the aim of determining the mode of anchoring of PS blocks to polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate), and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVA) particles. 

The sediment volume of silica in CCl solutions of poly (methyl methacrylate) was approximately 9 cc g-l but variable results were found in solutions of polystyrene, depending on the molecular wt. of the polymer. Lower M.W. samples are poor stabilizers and the dispersions are so unstable that optical coagulation rates could not be measured with confidence. Figure 5 shows the general trend in CCl. All polymers, whatever their composition, are superior to the pure solvent. 

Poly(methyl methacrylate) provides a level of stabilization even though the solution in CCl is below the 0-temperature. All the copolymers, both random and block, are better stabilizers than PMM, the methacrylate units acting as anchors, with stabilizing sequences of styrene loops, of block copolymers, or mixed loops and tails, of random copolymers, at better than 0-conditions. Higher M.W. polystyrenes give silica dispersions too unstable to measure by our optical method the sediment volumes are between those of poly(methyl methacrylate) solutions and pure solvent. 

These dyes have affinity for one or, usually, more types of hydrophobic fibre and they are normally applied by exhaustion from fine aqueous dispersion. Although pure disperse dyes have extremely low solubility in cold water, such dyes nevertheless do dissolve to a limited extent in aqueous surfactant solutions at typical dyeing temperatures. The fibre is believed to sorb dye from this dilute aqueous solution phase, which is continuously replenished by rapid dissolution of particles from suspension. Alternatively, hydrophobic fibres can absorb disperse dyes from the vapour phase. This mechanism is the basis of many continuous dyeing and printing methods of application of these dyes. The requirements and limitations of disperse dyes on cellulose acetate, triacetate, polyester, nylon and other synthetic fibres will be discussed more fully in Chapter 3. Similar products have been employed in the surface coloration of certain thermoplastics, including cellulose acetate, poly(methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene. 

Coleman et al. 2471 reported the spectra of different proportions of poly(vinylidene fluoride) PVDF and atactic poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA. At a level of 75/25 PVDF/PMMA the blend is incompatible and the spectra of the blend can be synthesized by addition of the spectra of the pure components in the appropriate amounts. On the other hand, a blend composition of 39 61 had an infrared spectrum which could not be approximated by absorbance addition of the two pure spectra. A carbonyl band at 1718cm-1 was observed and indicates a distinct interaction involving the carbonyl groups. The spectra of the PVDF shows that a conformational change has been induced in the compatible blend but only a fraction of the PVDF is involved in the conformational change. Allara M9 250 251) cautioned that some of these spectroscopic effects in polymer blends may arise from dispersion effects in the difference spectra rather than chemical effects. Refractive index differences between the pure component and the blend can alter the band shapes and lead to frequency shifts to lower frequencies and in general the frequency shifts are to lower frequencies. 

Dawkins and Taylor109 dispersed poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) or polystyrene (PS) particles in n-alkanes stabilized by AB block copolymers of styrene and dimethyl-siloxane. In these cases, styrene blocks act as anchors and dimethylsiloxane blocks give a surface layer. The thickness 6 of the dimethylsiloxane layer was determined by viscosity measurements as a function of the molecular weight of dimethylsiloxane blocks. 

The mechanism of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) particle formation in the presence of PEO-MA macromonomer in the presence of conventional stabilizer (PVPo) and the graft copolymers (PSt-gra/f-PEO), respectively, was discussed [77]. At the beginning of dispersion polymerization (in methanol) of MMA (0-250 s) using PVPo, very small particles were formed (12-35 nm in diameter). The population of bigger particles was roughly stabilized at ca. 345 nm in diameter. In the dispersion polymerization of styrene, small particles... 

Dopant orientation during and following electric field-induced poling can be studied continuously and in real time in order to examine the microenvironment surrounding the dopants in terms of the polymer relaxations and the applied corona field. In the results presented below, the SHG of 4-dimethylamino-4 -nitrostilbene (DANS) dispersed in polystyrene (PS) or poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrices has been examined in corona poled films as a function of temperature in order to understand the effect of thermal conditions on the temporal stability of the dopant orientation. 

It was previously reported that the homopolymer surfactant PFOA successfully stabilized poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) dispersion polymerizations (DeSimone et al., 1994 Hsiao et ah, 1995), but was not successful for styrene dispersion polymerizations (Canelas et al., 1996). In these styrene polymerizations, the C02 pressure used was 204 bar. However, later studies showed that both PFOA and poly(l,l-dihydroper-fluorooctyl methacrylate) (PFOMA) could stabilize polystyrene (PS) particles (Shiho and DeSimone, 1999) when a higher pressure was used. These polymerizations were conducted at 370 bar, 65 °C, and the particle size could be varied from 3 to 10 pm by varying the concentration of stabilizer. These homopolymer surfactants are less expensive and easier to synthesize than block copolymer surfactants and provide access to a large range of particle sizes. 

---