Particle features and morphology of poly(vinyl chloride) prepared by living radical polymerisation in aqueous media. Insight about particle formation mechanism

Abstract The aim of this work is to evaluate PVC resins prepared by Single Electron Transfer Degenerative Chain Transfer Living Radical Polymerisation (SET-DTLRP) in a 150 L reactor under industrial conditions. The product features were analysed considering the standard resin features of PVC prepared by the conventional free radical polymerisation (FRP) method. It was proved that the FRP and SET-DTLRP have different particle growing mechanism and led to grains with completely different features (particle size, particle size distribution and morphology). It is critical for the PVC producers the preparation of PVC with a predetermined grain shape, particle size distribution and porosity which have an indubitable influence on polymer processing. It is presented a detailed study on the particle formation of the PVC synthesised by SET-DTLRP providing first insights into PVC features associated with a new polymerisation technique taking into account the normal requirements of the PVC industry. A possible mechanism of the SET-DTLRP particle formation is proposed.