A radical polymerization method that enables synthesis, at a high conversion rate, of polymers having a relatively uniform molecular weight and is applicable to various monomers, and an apparatus used for the method. A reaction solution containing monomer and initiator is continuously or intermittently circulated in the apparatus and is heated in a heating-initiation unit to a predetermined temperature simultaneously across a radial direction of a cross section of the flow path whereby the initiator located in a particular volume of the reaction solution is cleaved all at once. The apparatus includes a heating medium production unit 10, a heating medium-reaction solution mixing unit 20, a cooling unit 30, and a recovery unit 40 for a reaction mixture, all communicatively connected by the flow path and optionally a heating reaction unit 60, a cooling unit 70, and a recovery unit 80, all communicatively connected by the flow path.

A radical polymerization method that enables synthesis, at a high conversion rate, of polymers having a relatively uniform molecular weight and is applicable to various monomers, and an apparatus used for the method. A reaction solution containing monomer and initiator is continuously or intermittently circulated in the apparatus and is heated in a heating-initiation unit to a predetermined temperature simultaneously across a radial direction of a cross section of the flow path whereby the initiator located in a particular volume of the reaction solution is cleaved all at once. The apparatus includes a heating medium production unit 10, a heating medium-reaction solution mixing unit 20, a cooling unit 30, and a recovery unit 40 for a reaction mixture, all communicatively connected by the flow path and optionally a heating reaction unit 60, a cooling unit 70, and a recovery unit 80, all communicatively connected by the flow path.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing an aqueous composition by emulsion polymerization of at least one ethylenically unsaturated monomer in the presence of at least one water-soluble diaminostilbene disulphonic optical brightener, as well as to the aqueous composition obtainable by said method, the use of said aqueous composition for optically brightening of a cellulosic substrate and the cellulosic substrate treated with the aqueous composition.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing an aqueous composition by emulsion polymerization of at least one ethylenically unsaturated monomer in the presence of at least one water-soluble diaminostilbene disulphonic optical brightener, as well as to the aqueous composition obtainable by said method, the use of said aqueous composition for optically brightening of a cellulosic substrate and the cellulosic substrate treated with the aqueous composition.

A process for producing water-absorbing polymer particles by polymerizing droplets of a monomer solution, where the monomer solution comprises at least two initiators, one of the initiators is a peroxide with the exception of persulfate, and the molar ratio of peroxide to further initiator is at least 1:8, the water-absorbing polymer particles themselves, and hygiene articles comprising these water-absorbing polymer particles.

A process for producing water-absorbing polymer particles by polymerizing droplets of a monomer solution, where the monomer solution comprises at least two initiators, one of the initiators is a peroxide with the exception of persulfate, and the molar ratio of peroxide to further initiator is at least 1:8, the water-absorbing polymer particles themselves, and hygiene articles comprising these water-absorbing polymer particles.

A method for producing a polyvinylphosphonic acid copolymer may control a rise in internal temperature in the reaction system during polymerization and may allow synthesis of a copolymer as a polymer solution. A method for producing a polyvinylphosphonic acid copolymer may include polymerizing a compound of formula (1) and a compound of formula (2) in presence of a radical polymerization initiator and in a water-containing solvent:

##STR00001##

wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently —OH, —O.sup.−, or —O.sup.−M.sup.+(M.sup.+ being a counter ion), R.sup.3 is —OH, —O.sup.−, —O.sup.−M.sup.+, or an optionally substituted alkoxy group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms (M.sup.+ being a counter ion), and R.sup.4 is an optionally substituted alkoxy group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 optionally forming a ring together with an adjacent phosphorus atom when both R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are alkoxy groups.

A method for producing a polyvinylphosphonic acid copolymer may control a rise in internal temperature in the reaction system during polymerization and may allow synthesis of a copolymer as a polymer solution. A method for producing a polyvinylphosphonic acid copolymer may include polymerizing a compound of formula (1) and a compound of formula (2) in presence of a radical polymerization initiator and in a water-containing solvent:

##STR00001##

wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently —OH, —O.sup.−, or —O.sup.−M.sup.+(M.sup.+ being a counter ion), R.sup.3 is —OH, —O.sup.−, —O.sup.−M.sup.+, or an optionally substituted alkoxy group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms (M.sup.+ being a counter ion), and R.sup.4 is an optionally substituted alkoxy group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 optionally forming a ring together with an adjacent phosphorus atom when both R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are alkoxy groups.

An object is to provide fine resin particles that have solvent resistance sufficient to withstand a heating step after solvent dispersion and that generate few bubbles during dispersion and have high dispersibility in a solvent, and a method for producing the fine resin particles. As a solution, fine resin particles obtained by polymerizing a vinyl monomer, the fine resin particles having a gel fraction of 93% or more and a solvent resistance index of 50 or less, and fine resin particles obtained by polymerizing a vinyl monomer, in which the vinyl monomer contains a reactive surfactant having a polyoxyalkylene chain in a molecule thereof, and a vinyl polymer chain of the fine resin particles is terminated with a hydroxy group derived from a polymerization initiator, are provided.

According to some embodiments, the present invention provides compositions and methods for making and using multifunctional polymerized liposomes finding relevant application in medical sciences, particularly in bioimaging, diagnostics, drug delivery, and drug formulation. The compositions and methods involve lipids that are both polymerizable and have a “clickable” group that provides the ability to functionalize via a click reaction with various functional moieties useful for the above-listed applications.