Determination of monomer reactivity ratios in styrene/2-ethylhexylacrylate copolymer

The monomer reactivity ratios for styrene/ 2-ethylhexylacrylate in bulk at 80degreesC were investigated by studying the resulting copolymer composition via H-1-NMR. Composition results were summarized and various methods were employed to estimate the reactivity ratios including the use of the Error-in-Variables-Model (EVM) approach by using the Mayo-Lewis model. The estimates of the reactivity ratios from the EVM method are found to be r(s) = 0.979 and r(EHA) = 0.292. The resulting copolymer has a tendency toward alternation with an azeotrope of f(styrene) = 0.972. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, lnc.