Sodium 4-vinylbenzoic acid is a styrenic monomer used to incorporate a pendant carboxylic acid onto a polystyrene backbone. As popular alternatives to acrylic monomers, styrenic monomers generally provide polymers with higher glass transition temperatures, higher modulus, and nominal UV absorbance. Polystyrenes are also generally considered tough and chemically resistant. Styrene monomers are unique as they are one of the few monomers which are able to undergo polymerization by a radical, cationic, or anionic mechanism.
