Kinetics of microemulsion polymerization of styrene

The effect of pH on polymerization rate is studied. The rate of polymerization was found to be unaffected by pH. A kinetic model for the polymerization of styrene in O/W microemulsion, which has previously been proposed by the present authors, was extended to predict the particle size distribution (PSD) of the polymer particles produced. The proposed kinetic model is also extended so as to be applicable to a system containing chain transfer agent. The predicted PSD was found to agree fairly well with the measured value, which demonstrates the importance of radical desorption from polymer particles in determination of particle size.