Toward control of molar mass distribution and polymer architecture in seeded emulsion polymerization reactors

The molar mass distribution (MMD) and macromolecular structure of polymers produced in aqueous dispersed media is determined by an array of competing reactions that occur during the polymerization process. As a result of this complex reaction network, even small changes to the reactor conditions can result in significant changes to the MMD, which renders control on the industrial scale a major challenge, especially when considering reactors with different heat removal capacities. In this work, it is demonstrated that first principles based polymerization strategies can be designed to overcome this issue. These strategies are expressed in terms of temperature and instantaneous and overall conversions, which are variables that can be easily monitored on-line, opening the opportunity to produce these waterborne polymer dispersions in a robust way by applying on-line control. • Develop master curves for on-line control of MMD and polymer microstructure. • Control MMD in nonlinear polymers with complex architectures. • Control MMD in reactors with different heat removal capacity. • Control strategy uses variables that are readily measurable in real time on-line.