Precipitation polymerization
In polymer science, precipitation polymerization is a heterogeneous polymerization process that begins initially as a homogeneous system in the continuous phase, where the monomer and initiator are completely soluble, but upon initiation the formed polymer is insoluble and thus precipitates.
are dissolved in a solvent and this continuous phase that is a nonsolvent for the
formed polymer beyond a critical molecular weight.[1]
After precipitation, the polymerization proceeds by absorption of monomer and initiator into the polymer particles.[2]
A distinction should be made between precipitation and dispersion polymerization, due to the similarities. A dispersion polymerization is actually a type of precipitation polymerization, but the difference lies in the fact that precipitation polymerizations give larger and less regular particles, as a result of little or no stabilizer present.[3]
References
- Slomkowski, Stanislaw; Alemán, José V.; Gilbert, Robert G.; Hess, Michael; Horie, Kazuyuki; Jones, Richard G.; Kubisa, Przemyslaw; Meisel, Ingrid; Mormann, Werner; Penczek, Stanisław; Stepto, Robert F. T. (2011). "Terminology of polymers and polymerization processes in dispersed systems (IUPAC Recommendations 2011)" (PDF). Pure and Applied Chemistry. 83 (12): 2229–2259. doi:10.1351/PAC-REC-10-06-03. S2CID 96812603.
- George Odian in Principles of Polymerization third edition, John Wiley and Sons, 1991, pp 302
- Joseph C. Salamone in Concise Polymeric Materials Encyclopedia, CRC Press, 1998, pp 1373