The effective transportation of monomer from monomer droplets through the water phase into particles is a crucial step in the emulsion polymerization of hydrophobic monomers with very low water solubility, such as VeoVa™ 10 monomer (vinyl ester of neodecanoic acid) or isodecyl methacrylate (IDMA).
In previous work,1,2 we have demonstrated that Calfax® 16L-35 (sodium hexadecyl diphenyl oxide disulfonate) has excellent association with hydrophobic monomers and acts as an effective monomer transporter from monomer droplets through the water phase to latex particles. Using Calfax 16L-35, a conventional emulsion polymerization process with an ammonium persulfate initiator can produce homopolymers of VeoVa 10 monomer and IDMA as well as the copolymers or terpolymers of these monomers with other monomers such as styrene, MMA and TBMA.