Emulsion Polymerization with a Biosurfactant

Aya Kurozuka; Shohei Onishi; Takuto Nagano; Katsumi Yamaguchi; Toyoko Suzuki; Hideto Minami

doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b00851

Emulsion Polymerization with a Biosurfactant

Langmuir. 2017 Jun 13;33(23):5814-5818. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b00851. Epub 2017 May 31.

Authors

Aya Kurozuka¹, Shohei Onishi¹, Takuto Nagano², Katsumi Yamaguchi³, Toyoko Suzuki¹, Hideto Minami¹

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University , Rokko, Nada, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
² New Business Development Division, Kaneka Corporation , 2-3-18, Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-8288, Japan.
³ High Performance Polymers Division, Kaneka Corporation , 1-8, Miyamae-cho, Takasago, Hyogo 676-8688, Japan.

PMID: 28535067
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b00851

Abstract

Emulsion polymerization of styrene was conducted using a biosurfactant (i.e., sodium surfactin, hereinafter called just "surfactin") having very low critical micelle concentration (CMC, 2.9 × 10^-3 mmol/L) and biodegradability characteristics. The nucleation mechanism was investigated by comparing with a conventional surfactant (i.e., sodium dodecyl sulfate) system. Unlike the emulsion polymerization systems using conventional surfactants, nucleation mechanisms changed above CMC in the presence of a biosurfactant. At low concentrations of surfactin (above CMC), the polystyrene (PS) particles are likely generated via a soap-free emulsion polymerization mechanism. In contrast, at high surfactin concentrations, the PS particles would be synthesized by following a micellar nucleation mechanism. However, the slope (0.23) of the log N_p versus log C_s plot (N_p: number of particles; C_s: concentration of surfactin) did not obey the Smith-Ewart theory (0.6), this probably being produced by the high adsorbability of surfactin.