The Mechanical Dispersion (MD) process, a method of making low viscosity aqueous dispersions of polyolefins (and other polymers that do not emulsion polymerize), is enabled by a variety of dispersing materials, including small molecule surfactants and polymeric stabilizers such as ethylene-acrylic acid (EAA) polymers. The polymeric stabilizers are particularly useful at high temperature, but there is a limited range of EAA materials available commercially. The purpose of this preliminary study is to demonstrate that useful dispersing polymers can be prepared from hydrophobic (meth)acrylate/acrylamide monomers copolymerized with sulfonic acid functional moieties. Using high throughput polymer synthesis tools, the potassium salt of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) was copolymerized with a series of hydrophobic (meth)acrylate/acrylamide monomers at a range of carbon number to charge ratios to prepare a series of candidate dispersing polymers. The polymers were screened on the basis of high temperature water solubility, molecular weight and, using a novel small-scale MD process, for their ability to enable the dispersion of polyolefin resins to stable aqueous dispersions. Polymers with molecular weight 5,000 – 10,000 Da prepared from AMPS and t-octyl acrylamide, lauryl acrylate, and 2-etheylhexyl acrylate over a wide range of carbon number per charge appeared, in this preliminary work, to be effective. More extensive effort will be needed in order to elucidate detailed polymer structure-dispersion property relationships.

Development of polymeric stabilizers for the mechanical dispersion process

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.