Styrene Monomer

Brief Overview
Styrene monomer is an aromatic hydrocarbon and is derived from petroleum and natural gas by-products. It is most commonly produced by the catalytic dehydrogenation of Ethyl Benzene, which is formed from the reaction of Ethylene and Benzene.
Manufacturing Process
Styrene is one of the most important monomers produced by the chemical industry today. Styrene monomer is a basic building block of the plastics industry. The conventional method of producing styrene involves the alkylation of benzene with ethylene to produce ethylbenzene, followed by dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene. Styrene undergoes polymerization by all the common methods used in plastics technology to produce a wide variety of polymers and copolymers. Styrene is readily polymerized and copolymerized by both batch and continuous mass polymerization, emulsion, suspension and solution processes.