Feasibility of the Simultaneous Determination of Monomer Concentrations and Particle Size in Emulsion Polymerization Using in Situ Raman Spectroscopy.

An immersion Raman probe was used in emulsion copolymerization reactions to measure monomer concentrations and particle sizes. Quantitative determination of monomer concentrations is feasible in two-monomer copolymerizations, but only the overall conversion could be measured by Raman spectroscopy in a four-monomer copolymerization. The feasibility of measuring monomer conversion and particle size was established using partial least-squares (PLS) calibration models.

Closed-Loop Multitarget Optimization for Discovery of New Emulsion Polymerization Recipes.

Self-optimization of chemical reactions enables faster optimization of reaction conditions or discovery of molecules with required target properties. The technology of self-optimization has been expanded to discovery of new process recipes for manufacture of complex functional products. A new machine-learning algorithm, specifically designed for multiobjective target optimization with an explicit aim to minimize the number of "expensive" experiments, guides the discovery process.