Application of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide in the Synthesis of Poly(vinyl acetate)

Poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), a precursor of industrially important poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), was synthesized in supercritical carbon dioxide that does not produce any pollution. The molecular weight and yield of PVAc obtained in this study were 60,000 140,000 g/mol and 10 ~ 80％, respectively, depending on the reaction conditions. The molecular weight decreased but the yield of PVAc increased with increasing the amount of initiator. Also, the yield of polymer showed a maximum versus the amount of surfactant. Polymerization with and without surfactant was also investigated.