Study on the Effect of Nucleation and Emulsifier Concentration on the Emulsion Copolymerization of Styrene/Butadiene using Monte Carlo Method

Emulsion polymerization of styrene/butadiene is simulated using Monte Carlo method. The important assumptions are: Interval I is finished when all micelles are disappeared, during the polymerization period there isn’t variation considered for their reaction constants. In this research bimodal molecular weight distribution was obtained, which is an evidence of tri-functional branching and tetra-functional crosslinking. The results show increasing in the degree of conversion causes to shift molecular weight distribution toward the higher values. Increasing in emulsifier concentration causes to increase the surface area under the second peak in molecular weight distribution. The statistical approach showed the results are in agreement with the Smith-Ewart theory for insoluble monomers in continuous media.

Study on the Effect of Nucleation and Emulsifier Concentration on the Emulsion Copolymerization of Styrene/Butadiene using Monte Carlo Method Keywords:

Emulsion copolymerization , Styrene/Butadiene , Molecular weight distribution , Branched polymers , Monte Carlo method