Polystyrene-butadiene emulsion polymerised

Tuzar and Kratochvil (23) have reported that styrene-butadiene block copolymers mlcellise in selective solvents for polystyrene and solubilise large amounts of polybutadiene homopolymer. Sinc.e the surface active grades of polyvinyl alcohol are polyvinyl alcohol-acetate block copolymers and water is a selective solvent for polyvinyl alcohol a similar effect may be expected which could affect the course of the vinyl acetate emulsion polymerisation. 

Hybrid (or composite) latexes (169) are essentially a combination of the artificial latex and emulsion polymerisation methods (68, 167). A water-insoluble species (such as polymer) may be dissolved in monomer and dispersed in water in the same marmer as the artificial latexes. However, rather than removing the monomeric solvent, it is polymerised in the droplets by the addition of initiator. The monomer-swollen polymer particles capture radicals and polymerise to form a polymeric blend or structured domains. In this maimer, polystyrene particles with styrene-butadiene mbber (SBR) inclusions have been prepared for impact modification applications. 

Acrylonitrile is also commonly found in impact modifiers, such as the acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) type, produced by emulsion polymerisation. Polybutadiene seed latex particles are grafted onto styrene and acrylonitrile in a seeded emulsion polymerisation process. As the styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer shell forms, polybutadiene domains are spontaneously separated within. The resulting impact modifier particles are subsequently compounded with polystyrene to product high impact polystyrene (HIPS). The impact modification properties of the latex particles may be optimised through varying the butadiene content, the particle size and structure, and the shell molecular weight. A basic formulation for an ABS impact modifier is given in Table 6. 

Amongst the polymers based on crude oil, seven groups of polymers - polyolefins (PE and PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), emulsion polymerised styrene butadiene rubber (ESBR), polyamides (PA) and unsaturated polyester resins (UP) constitute approximately 80 % of the total consumption of polymers. 

This document focuses on the main products of the European polymer industry both in production figures and in environmental impact, mainly produced in dedicated installations for the production of one specific polymer. The list of products covered is not conclusive but includes polyolefins, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, unsatuiated polyesters, emulsion polymerised styrene butadiene rubbers, solution polymerised rubbers containing butadiene, polyamides, polyethylene terephthalate fibres and viscose fibres. 

BR made by emulsion polymerisation with a free radical initiator is used as the rubber component of a high impact polystyrene and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins. No discussion will be given on the molecular structure of this rubber. For those, who are interested in the relationship between molecular architecture and mixing behaviour, this is discussed in Section 1.1.2 on E-SBR. 

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