Emulsion Copolymerization: Simulation of Particle Morphology

Abstract

Despite the fact that emulsion polymers are generally copolymers, only few fundamental works have been devoted to the kinetics of emulsion copolymerization. One reason is, certainly, that copolymerization is thought to be even more complex. However, in many cases copolymerization proved to be a powerful tool for mechanistic investigations; a good choice of the comonomer making it something like a molecular “sensor”. In the past few years an increasing number of publications dealt with emulsion copolymerization processes: batch, semicontinuous with a simple or complex monomer addition.