Emulsion Polymerization of Isoprene: Mathematical Model for Long Chain Branching

Abstract

For a batch emulsion polymerization of isoprene at 10 °C in the presence of a chain transfer agent, a previous mathematical model [Minari et al., J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2010, 116, 590] was extended for predicting the molecular weight distributions of all the generated long-branched molecular topologies; with each topology characterized by the number of tri- and tetra-functional branches per molecule. At the reaction end, and according to the new model predictions, the linear topology remains as the most abundant (with approximate 50% of the total mass), followed by the single trifunctionally-branched topology (with approximate 20% of the total mass). The model can be useful for developing strategies for controlling the distribution of branches/molec., for estimating melt viscosities, etc.