On the Exploitation of Optical Signal from Raman Spectroscopy for In-Situ Conversion Monitoring of Emulsion Polymerization

Raman spectroscopy was used for in-situ monitoring of styrene emulsion polymerization with sodium dodecyl sulfate and potassium persulfate as the surfactant and initiator, respectively. A new method for analyzing Raman data and calculating monomer conversion was proposed on the basis of the shift of peak corresponding to aromatic ring breathing. It was demonstrated that monomer conversion calculated with this method was similar to the one calculated using the area of vinylic bond as well as to off-line gravimetric determination. Moreover, the kinetic intervals were detected. The conversion measured at the transitions was similar to the literature data.