How are PVC particles produced?
The present invention concerns a procedure for the production of PVC particl es with a narrow size distribution in the range 10-50 .mu.m, preferably 10-30 .mu.m, in which, in a first stage, a vinyl monomer o r a mixture of monomers is polymerised to form a polymer/oligomer seed particle in the range 1-10 .mu.m. In a second stage, another vinyl monomer or mixture of monomers is swelled into the polymer/oligomer seed particles and polymerisation takes place in such a way that they grow into polymer particles of the desired size. It is preferable to use aromatic vinyl monomers or acrylates as the monomer in the seed particle s. The seed particles in the first stage can be produced in a two-stage swelling process or by dispersion polymerisation.
A procedure for producing spherical PVC particles in the range 10 to 50 µm, characterised in that the seed particles are produced in a first stage by means of dispersion polymerisation of an aromatic vinyl monomer, acrylates or a mixture of monomers, in which an oil-soluble organic peroxide in used as the polymerisation initiator and that, in a second stage, only the polymerisation medium, stabilisers, vinyl chloride monomer or a mixture of monomers and initiator-activator are dosed and that the polymerisation in the second stage is carried out by swelling the monomer(s) and using residual initiator in the seed particles.