The use of biodiesel as a green polymerization solvent at elevated temperatures

BACKGROUND: Many important polymers are produced via solution polymerization. The solvent maintains a low viscosity, which provides many practical advantages related to heat transfer, mixing and material handling. Despite these advantages, commonly used solvents often present health and environmental problems. In an effort to replace these toxic solvents, a ‘green’ polymerization solvent, namely canola-based FAME (fatty acid methyl ester or biodiesel), was used for solution polymerizations at an elevated temperature. RESULTS: Homopolymerizations of methyl methacrylate, styrene, butyl acrylate and vinyl acetate in FAME were studied at different solvent concentrations at 120 °C. Chain transfer to solvent rate constants (Cfs) were obtained for each polymer system and Arrhenius parameters for Cfs, i.e. Ea and A, were also calculated. These new solvent data were employed in a polymerization simulator to predict rate of polymerization and number- and weight-average molecular weights for these commercially important systems. Model predictions showed reasonable agreement with experimental data. CONCLUSION: FAME fulfills the demands as a polymerization solvent. From an ecological perspective, FAME provides an environmentally friendly alternative to common solvents. From an industrial perspective, using FAME as a high-boiling polymerization solvent can increase productivity by enabling polymerizations at elevated temperatures. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry