Measurement of the Solubilities of Vinylic Monomers in Water

In aqueous emulsion and miniemulsion polymerization, the product may be dependent upon the ability of the monomer(s) to diffuse across the continuous aqueous phase. This, in turn, is dependent upon the solubility of the monomer in the aqueous phase. Reference solubilities are often difficult to find or measure using different methods and temperatures. This paper presents the solubilities of a number of low-solubility monomers at 60 °C, using the multiple headspace extraction gas chromatography technique described by Chai et al. ( J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2004, in press). The data were collected under uniform conditions and provide a base for judging relative solubilities. These data will be useful not only as absolute measurements of water solubility but also as a tool to judge the relative solubilities of various monomers.