Polymerisation is the process of bonding repeating single units (monomers) into long chains polymers. It is a very common chemical process which involves numerous different variables. The functionality of a polymer is related to its physical structure and shape, so being able to create different families of size distribution can create different functional products.

 

Different process parameters can affect the physical structure of the polymer, so being able to precisely control the critical parameters of paramount importance.

 

Polymerisation is a very common chemical process, used to create a wide range of products in a variety of ways. This example is an addition polymerisation of polystyrene latex. The method involved heating a micelle solution containing distilled water, sodium dodecyl sulphate and sodium hydroxide. The solution would be taken to its CMC (critical micelle concentration) level. The monomer styrene would then be added and once the solution had stabilised the initiator (ammonium peroxodisulphate) would be added. The reaction temperature would be controlled to maintain a constant 65°C for the reaction. Within a STR the reaction typically took between 2-4hrs to complete.

 

There are many different methods to measure quality of polymers.

 

 

Fermentation of a biopolymer
In this example, the desired concentration levels can be achieved with an OBR in less than half the time of the traditional process.