In situ formation of stabilizers for the implementation of dispersion nitroxide mediated polymerization of MMA in supercritical carbon dioxide

Controlled dispersion Nitroxide Mediated Polymerization (NMP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was successfully carried out for the first time in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) in the presence of CO2-philic perfluorinated surfactant that was generated “in situ”. The control of the MMA polymerization relies on the strategy developed by Charleux et al. that consists of using a SG1-based alkoxyamine, i.e. the block-builder, in the presence of small amount of styrene. In a first step, CO2 soluble polyheptadecafluorodecylacrylate was prepared in scCO2 using block-builder as an alkoxyamine. In a second step, nitroxide SG1 mediated dispersion polymerization of MMA was conducted at 70°C and 300 bar in the presence of 5 w% of SG1 terminated surfactant compared to the monomer. Different monomer to alkoxyamine molar ratios were investigated in order to target different molecular weights. In each case, the monomer conversion was high (>90 %), the experimental molecular weight was in good agreement with the theoretical value and the polydispersity was narrow (Mw/Mn ~1.2). Moreover, after depressurisation of the cell, PMMA was collected as a free flowing powder consisting of small sized microspheres.