Dispersion and soap-free emulsion polymerization of tert-butyl acrylate with the living character and controlled particle size mediated by cobalt porphyrin

Abstract

Living radical polymerization (LRP) of tert-butyl acrylate (tBA) was carried out via dispersion and soap-free emulsion polymerization mediated by cobalt porphyrin [cobalt tetramethoxyphenylporphyrin, (TMOP)Co(II)] and initiated by 2,2′-azobis[2-(2-imidazolin-2-yl)propane] dihydrochloride (VA-044), respectively. The living character was demonstrated by the linear first-order kinetics with different feeding ratios of tBA and (TMOP)Co(II) and a linear increase in the number-average molecular weight was observed with the monomer conversion, as well as the relatively narrow polydispersity. However, only few studies have been reported on (TMOP)Co(II) mediating a living radical dispersion or soap-free emulsion polymerization of tBA. In addition, the obtained poly(tert-butyl acrylate) (PtBA) particles exhibited good uniformity and controlled particle size whether in the dispersion system or in the soap-free emulsion polymerization.