In-Line Monitoring of SBR Emulsion Polymerization Using ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy

Abstract

The copolymerization of styrene/1,3-butadiene in emulsion was monitored in-line using an ATR-FTIR spectroscopic probe. The concentration of monomers was monitored to provide real-time conversion and copolymer composition data. Traditional off-line techniques, gravimetry and ¹H-NMR spectroscopy, were compared to the in-line ATR-FTIR data. A multivariate calibration method using the full reaction spectra displayed no significant differences between the off-line and in-line data sets at a 95% confidence level. It was demonstrated that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy is a reliable tool for monitoring conversion and polymer composition in multi-phase emulsion polymerizations.

Keywords:

• 1,3-butadiene
• ¹H-NMR spectroscopy
• ATR-FTIR spectroscopy
• Emulsion polymerization
• In-line monitoring
• Styrene

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Omnova Solutions, USA and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Notes

¹phm = parts per hundred parts monomer.