乳液聚合是指借助乳化剂的作用，在机械搅拌或振荡下，单体在水中形成乳液而进行的聚合.乳液聚合反应产物为胶乳，可直接应用，也可以把胶乳破坏，经洗涤、干燥等后处理工序，得粉状或针状聚合物。乳液聚合可以在较高的反应速度下，获得较高分子量的聚合物，物料的粘度低，易于传热和混合，生产容易控制，残留单体容易除去。乳液聚合的缺点是聚合过程中加入的乳化剂等影响制品性能。为得到固体聚合物，耗用经过凝聚、分离、洗涤等工艺过程。反应器的生产能力比本体聚合法低。
Emulsion polymerization refers to the polymerization of emulsion formed in water by mechanical agitation or oscillating under the action of emulsifier. The product of emulsion polymerization is latex, which can be used directly or latex can be destroyed, and powder or needle like polymers can be obtained after washing and drying. Emulsion polymerization can obtain higher molecular weight polymer at higher reaction speed. The viscosity of the material is low, heat transfer and mixing are easy, the production is easy to control, and the residual monomer is easy to be removed. The disadvantage of emulsion polymerization is that the emulsifier added in the polymerization process affects the properties of the products. In order to get solid polymer, the process of coagulation, separation and washing is used. The production capacity of the reactor is lower than that of bulk polymerization.