Nonaqueous emulsion copolymerization of ethyl methacrylate/lauryl methacrylate in propylene glycol. I. Evaluation of stabilizing efficiency for PEO-PS-PEO triblock copolymers

Sixteen poly(ethylene oxide)-polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PS-PEO) triblock copolymers were synthesized by anionic polymerization. They were characterized by gel permeation chromatography and proton NMR. The molecular weight of these 16 PEO-PS-PEO triblock copolymers ranged from 5100 to 13,300. The polystyrene (PS) block length was between 13 and 41. The PEO block length was between 41 and 106. The polydispersity index for these PEO-PS-PEO triblock copolymers were 1.05 +/- 0.02. When using these stabilizers in the emulsion copolymerization of ethyl methacrylate and lauryl methacylate in propylene glycol, only a narrow window of stability was observed. Stable latexes were formed only when the molecular weights of the PEO blocks were within the range of 5300 -7700 and the molecular weights of the PS blocks were 2000-4000. The stabilizer ability for these triblock copolymers was correlated with their molecular weight and conformation in propylene glycol. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.