ABSTRACT
Free radical polymerization in colloidal dispersions such as emulsions has become a standard technique for the production of industrial polymers in the form of polymer colloids or latexes that are the bases for paints, adhesives, polishes, and other coatings. Isolation of single free radicals in loci of small dimensions affords a means of attaining simultaneously high molecular weights and high reaction rates. Emulsion polymerization has been extensively studied over the past 50 years, and the kinetics of the reaction and the mechanistic aspects of the process are rather well understood (see, e.g., Gilbert [1]). In contrast, the concept of polymerization in microemulsions appeared only around the 1980s [2], likely as a consequence of the numerous studies performed on these systems after the 1974 oil crisis. Since then, the field has developed rapidly, as attested to by the increasing number of papers devoted to microemulsion polymerization. The following interesting features of microemulsions result in a unique microenvironment that can be harnessed to produce novel materials with interesting morphologies or polymers with specific properties [33-6]:
Large overall interfacial area (about 100 m2/mL)
Optical transparency and thermodynamic stability
Small size of the domains (∼10−2 μm)
Great variety of structures
