Oxyethylated polypropylene glycols of various structures as surfactants for the synthesis of polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate suspensions with a narrow particle size distribution.

The colloidal-chemical properties of oxyethylated polypropylene glycols (pluronics), soluble and slightly soluble in water and containing a hydrophobic polypropylene glycol block with the same length but with different degrees of oxyethylation, were analyzed. It was determined that both pluronics are characterized by high surfactant properties, making it possible to use them as surfactants in heterophase polymerization processes. The observed differences in the kinetic specific features of the polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate (average particle diameter and polymerization rate, the character of the monomer conversion—time curves) allowed us to infer that the formation of the polymer-monomer particles occurs by different mechanisms. The obtained results showed that these surfactants are promising for the synthesis of polymer suspensions with a narrow particle size distribution and an average diameter in the range from 0.09 to 1.7 µm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]