The kinetics of suspended emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA)

in which water acted as the dispersed phase and the mixture of MMA and cyclohexane as the continuous phase

was investigated. It showed that the initial polymerization rate (Rp0) and steady-state polymerization rate (Rp) were proportional to the mass ratio between water and oil phase

and increased as the polymerization temperature

the potassium persulphate concentration ([I]) and the Tween20 emulsifier concentration ([S]) increased. The relationships between the polymerization rate and [I] and [S] were obtained as follows: Rp0 μ [I]0.73[S]0.32 and Rp μ [I]0.71[S]0.23. The above exponents were close to those obtained from normal MMA emulsion polymerization. It also showed that the average molecular weight of the resulting poly(methyl methacrylate) decreased as the polymerization temperature

[I] and [S] increased. Thus

MMA suspended emulsion polymerization could be considered as a combination of many miniature emulsion polymerizations proceeding in water drops and obeyed the classical kinetics of MMA emulsion polymerization.