Summary: A unique, multi‐tube, continuous reactor has been successfully designed and implemented for the study of reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) in miniemulsions. Data collection is greatly enhanced by the ability to simultaneously collect samples at five different residence times. The results of a styrene homopolymerization show that kinetically, the reactor exhibits similar behavior to a batch reaction. Number‐average molecular weights increased linearly with conversion, typical of living polymerizations.
The number‐average molecular weight of the polymers produced in the tubular reactor increased linearly with conversion, indicative of a controlled polymerization.
