A study of the soap‐free emulsion polymerization of styrene

Abstract A study on the soap‐free emulsion polymerization of styrene has been accomplished in this work. The polymerization reaction was carried out in a batch reactor under isothermal condition. Potassium persulfate was used as an initiator. In our experiments, the effects of agitation speed, monomer concentration, and initiator concentration on the number and size of polymer particles, on the conversion of monomer and molecular weight of polymers were investigated. In addition, the systems in the presence of emulsifier or CaSO 3 were investigated and discussed in comparison with a system free of them.