Effects of water solubility of acrylonitrile on vinylidene chloride/acrylonitrile/styrene suspension polymerization

The water solubility of acrylonitrile (AN) and its effects on vinylidene chloride/acrylonitrile/styrene (VDC/AN/St) suspension copolymerization were investigated in this study. It shows that the VDC/St ratio and the presence of suspending agent have no obvious influences on AN phase partition between the monomer and aqueous phases, whereas the water solubility of AN increases as temperature increases. Polymerization in the aqueous phase occurs extensively with azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) as initiator, whereas with lauryl peroxide (LPO) as initiator, polymerization in the aqueous phase is negligible. Theoretical analysis and experimental results indicate that transport of the monomer molecule is possible during polymerization. Both VDC and AN transfer from the monomer phase to the aqueous phase when AIBN is used as initiator. AN transfers from the aqueous phase to the monomer phase for the polymerization system initiated by LPO. Sodium nitrite (NaNO<INF>2</INF>), but not sodium sulfide (Na<INF>2</INF>S), can be used to effectively inhibit polymerization in water and exerts less influence on the polymerization in the monomer phase. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 79: 1431–1438, 2001