Reduction activation of emulsion copolymerization of butadiene and styrene: The benzoyl peroxide‐ferrous pyrophosphate system

Abstract

Abstract The German redox system of emulsion polymerization of butadiene and styrene has been found to be very sensitive to exact details of experimental procedure. Soap may be substituted for the alkanesulfonate used by the Germans; it is then unnecessary to add ferric laurate to the system. Careful investigation of the soap‐emulsified mixture leads to the conclusion that 0.25 parts of benzoyl peroxide, 0.50 parts of ferrous sulfate heptahydrate, and 3.0 parts of sodium pyrophosphate decahydrate were the optimum concentrations of the essential ingredients for polymerization of an emulsion of 75 parts of butadiene and 25 parts of styrene in 200 parts of water and 5 parts of Procter and Gamble soap Flakes (S.F.) at 30°. At very low iron concentration the addition of a reducing agent as “booster” was beneficial; for this purpose sorbose can be replaced by fructose or, less satisfactorily, by a number of other reducing agents.