• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.750-756
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• 2009

Stable, spherical, polystyrene particles were synthesized in ab initio dispersion polymerization by using the poly(methacrylic acid)[PMAA] macro-RAFT agent. The presence of the PMAA macro-RAFT agent on the polystyrene (PS) particles was confirmed by NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. The PS particle size was influenced by the concentration of the RAFT agent and monomer due to the initial nucleation. When the concentration of the PMAA macro-RAFT agent was increased from 2 to 10 wt% relative to the monomer, the average particle size decreased from 2.31 to 1.36 ${\mu}m$, the conversion decreased from 93.3 to 88.9%, the weight-average molecular weight increased from 46,300 to 150,200 g $mol^{-1}$ and the PDI decreased from 2.79 to 1.94, respectively. In particular, the incorporation of 10 wt% of PMAA macro-RAFT agent produced monodisperse PS spheres of 1.36 ${\mu}m$ with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 6.44%. Thus, the PMAA macro-RAFT agent worked as a reactive steric stabilizer providing monodisperse, micron-sized, PS particles.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.294-299
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• 2013

Solution polymerization was conducted with water-soluble methacrylic acid (MAA) as a monomer and potassium persulfate (KPS) as an initiator at a selected temperature between $70^{\circ}C$ and $90^{\circ}C$. When the ratio between MAA and water was reduced or initiator concentration increased, molecular weights decreased. Molecular weights of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) showed nearly no dependence on reaction temperature. The Weissenberg effect was observed in most polymerization reactions, while its effect weakened at $90^{\circ}C$. The polydispersity index was less than 1.5 in most of the reactions. An increase in the stirring speed produced PMAAs with increasing molecular weights. When the stirring speed reached 800 rpm, we retrieved a monodisperse PMAA with both the number and weight average molecular weights of 791,000 g/mol. The glass transition temperature was found to be $162^{\circ}C$.