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A novel method for the preparation of concentrated, colloidally stable, translucent polymer nanolatexes is presented. Herein nanolatexes are obtained from emulsion polymerization, utilizing the potential of catalytic chain transfer to enhance the particle nucleation efficiency. Low amounts of emulsifier are required (<8% w/w based on monomer) while the nanolatexes concentration can be increased to 40% w/w. The nanolatexes are translucent in appearance, which was correlated to the average particle size and width of the particle size distribution using Mie theory. Increasing the nanolatex concentration was found to have no deteriorating effect on either the optical or colloidal properties. Preparing translucent nanolatexes via this method is advantageous, as the amount of emulsifier is significantly reduced without sacrificing the optical transparency or the high interfacial surface area of the polymer colloids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of mass transport limitations in catalytic chain transfer mediated emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) using bis[(difluoroboryl)dimethylglyoximato]cobalt(II) (COBF) was investigated. The rate of mass transport of COBF from the aqueous phase toward the polymer particles proved to depend strongly on the viscosity of the polymer particles and consequently on the instantaneous conversion. At high instantaneous conversion the exchange of COBF between the particles and the aqueous phase is severely hindered. As a result, the control of the molecular weight distribution is hampered. At low instantaneous conversion COBF is readily transferred between the aqueous phase and polymer particles, resulting in immediate molecular weight control. The chain transfer activity of COBF inside the polymer particles during the polymerization was successfully quantified using the chain length distribution method. The results of this work show that the presence of a catalytic chain transfer agent can severely affect the course of the emulsion polymerization. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that molecular weight control during the final stages of an emulsion polymerization is affected by the increasing viscosity of the polymer particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]