Admicellar polymerization of ploy (methyl methacrylate) and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) onto natural rubber particles using mixed surfactants

Abstract

Thin-film coating of poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)
(PHEMA) onto natural rubber particles was prepared by admicellar polymerization. The thin-film
polymerization process occurs in three steps, namely, the formation of surfactant admicelles of
Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), the partitioning of the hydrophobic monomer (MMA) and
the hydrophilic monomer (HEMA) into admicelles and the in situ polymerization of the adsolubilized monomer.
The FT-IR results confirmed that only PMMA could be successfully coated onto natural rubber via the
admicellar polymerization