Comparison of the different emulsion polymerization routes between acrylic and vinyl acetate monomers using poly(vinyl alcohol) as the sole stabilizer

The emulsion polymerization of acrylic and vinyl acetate monomers using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as protective colloid has been studied for a long time, whereas rare reports ranged over the lateral comparison of the two systems and the reason for the unstability of the PVA/MMA polymerization system was still indistinct. Here in this paper, a collection of experiments of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and vinyl acetate (VAc) were performed respectively with varied amount of PVA as the sole stabilizer. The grafting extent of the polymerisate was characterized through the fraction and FTIR and it was found that the grafted amount of PVA was even larger in the PVA/MMA copolymers than PVA/VAc copolymers, so the grafted mode of PVA was considered. Based on the kinetics, the slower initiation rate of sulfate radical towards MMA was found to be responsible for the unstability of corresponding colloids accompanied with the relatively quicker hydrogen abstraction of radical to PVA, which resulted in “layer-by-layer” grafting structure inside and the particle surface-grafting density was lowered thereof. This was proved with TEM and static contact angle measurements and a pseudo-homopolymer model was employed to describe the relationship of colloidal stability and the PVA density on surfaces.