RAFT miniemulsion polymerisation of benzyl methacrylate using non-ionic surfactant

Miniemulsion polymerisation has become widely recognised as a versatile and efficient strategy to prepare well-defined polymer latexes. In this article, we report the synthesis of poly(benzyl methacrylate) (PBzMA) latexes via reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) mediated miniemulsion polymerisation using non-ionic Lutensol TO 20 surfactant. The influence of hydrophobe, initiator, and RAFT agent on particle diameter, particle number, rate of polymerisation, and molar mass were investigated systematically. In all cases well-controlled RAFT polymerisations were observed, as indciated by kinetic studies and GPC analysis. Higher concentrations of hexadecane lead to an increase in the of number of particles per unit volume and a decrease in PBzMA latex diameter. The rate of polymerisation with respect to initiator concentration follows a power-law relationship Rp α [initiator]1/2 but only negligible differences in molar mass, molar mass dispersity, and particle diameter values were observed for a range of initiator concentrations. Targeting lower PBzMA degrees of polymerisation increases the overall rate of polymerisation and latex diameter.