Synthesis and Application of Acrylic Polymers and Copolymers

Impact modifier act as combination shock absorbers, crack or craze arrestors, and Tg adjusters for PVC. Most rigid and semi-rigid PVC compounds have impact performancerequirements that can be met only through the use of impact modifier. Modern organic impact modifiers may be dividedinto three classifications, and acrylic polymer is one of them. Butylacrylate, butyl methacrylate, methacrylic acid, polyvinyl alcohol, and K2S2O8 were purchased from Merckand were used without further purification. In this study homopolymerization and copolymerization of butylacrylate (1a), butyl methacrylate (1b) and metyl methacrylate (1c) were conducted in the presence of K2S2O8 as radical initiator (Scheme 1 and 2 respectively). The product(2) and (3) were obtained as white powder. Structure of polymers and copolymers were studied by IR spectroscopy in which distinct peak was appeared at about 1730 cm-1 for COOR group and about 1200 cm-1 for C-O group. The effect of dispersing agent (e. g. poly vinyl alcohol), time andtemperature was investigated on the reaction. The results showed that polymerization under N2 effluent at 80 °C during 1 hr was the best condition.