Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate in Microemulsion: The Influence of Reaction Conditions on Polymerization

The reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant and a difunctional RAFT agent S,S′-bis (α, α′-dimethylacetic acid) trithiocarbonate (BDAT) as chain transfer were conducted in microemulsion. The influence of polymerization temperature and concentration of RAFT agent on the polymerization were investigated, respectively. The results showed that the molecular weight of products increased linearly with conversion, the polydispersity indexes remained low value, and the polymerization processes were totally under control with increasing concentration of RAFT agent, the polymerization behavior exhibited living polymerization characters. In addition, the influence of RAFT concentration on the particle size was investigated by TEM. The results indicated that the particles were highly monodispersed and the particle size increased with increasing concentration of RAFT agent.