Characterization of Alkali Catalyzed Synthesis of Polyvinyl Alcohol

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol was synthesized by using polyvinyl acetate emulsion as a starting material. In this process, polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) polymer was first coagulated from the emulsion using sodium sulphate, methanol and sulphuric acid follwed by filtration. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was then prepared by alcoholysis of polyvinyl acetate polymer using methanol with sodium hydroxide as catalyst. Sodium hydroxide was used because the reaction rate is higher when the reaction is catalyzed with an alkali than an acid. The hydrophilic property of PVA was used to separate the synthesized polyvinyl alcohol from the product mixture obtained after the reaction by dissolving PVA in water. It was observed that the percentage yield of polyvinyl alcohol increased with increase in catalyst percentage, reaction time and temperature. The PVA sample was characterized by TGA, SEM, NMR spectroscopy to confirm the synthesized product and its porous nature.