Dynamic modeling of limited particle coagulation in emulsion polymerization

✍ Scribed by M. J. J. Mayer; J. Meuldijk; D. Thoenes

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 590 KB
• Volume: 59
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19960103)59:1<83::aid-app13>3.0.co;2-9

✦ Synopsis

In emulsion polymerization, a limited degree of particle coagulation may occur. Particle coagulation is caused by a loss of colloidal stabilization when the surface coverage of emulsifier on the particles drops below a critical value. It has been demonstrated experimentally in a previous article that the time scale for particle coagulation is small compared to the time scale for particle growth by polymerization and absorption of monomer. This indicates that the coagulation process can probably be described by von Smoluchowski kinetics. Based on this result, a comprehensive dynamic model for the simulation of limited particle coagulation in emulsion polymerization has been developed. It has been shown that there is a reasonable agreement between simulations with the dynamic model and experimental data (e.g., conversion time history, particle number, and particle size distribution).