Photoinitiated homopolymerization and copolymerization of furfuryl methacrylate and N-vinylpyrrolidone

The study of the homo- and copolymerization of furfuryl methacrylate ( F ) and vinylpyrrolidone ( P ) in bulk, initiated by the photoactivation of AIBN at low temperatures (0 and 40°C), is described. The kinetic diagrams for the homopolymerization of F and P were obtained following the evolution of the heat of reaction by DSC, and revealed the autoacceleration and the vitrification effects on the polymerization rate. The influence of oxygen in the photoinitiated polymerization was analyzed by determining the steady-state concentration of oxygen from the kinetic data obtained for polymerizations performed out in the presence and absence of oxygen. The results obtained indicate that P is more sensitive than F to the presence of oxygen in free radical polymerization. The photoinitiated copolymerization process is little affected by the concentration of monomers, giving similar R_p and θ_m values for both systems. However, at low polymerization temperature 0°C non-crosslinked copolymers are obtained, whereas at a temperature of 40°C, the copolymers prepared at conversion higher than 20 mol % become crosslinked as a result of the active participation of the furfuryl ring in the polymerization process at this temperature. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Kinetic evidence of a “matrix effect” in the bulk polymerization of acrylonitrile

The kinetics of the γ-ray-initiated polymerization of acrylonitrile in bulk are reexamined in broad ranges of temperatures and radiation dose rates. The discussion of the results coupled with an analysis of earlier data indicate that the polymerization of acrylonitrile proceeds by different mechanisms depending on the reaction temperature. Above 60°C the precipitated growing chains recombine readily; therefore, the autoaccelerated conversion curves cannot be accounted for by an “occlusion effect.” It is suggested that autoacceleration is caused by a fast propagation taking place in oriented monomer aggregates which result from dipole-dipole association of the monomer with the polymer chains formed in the early stages of the reaction (“matrix effect”). Below 10°C the precipitated growing chains are buried in the dead polymer and monomer diffusion toward the occluded chain ends is very limited (“occlusion effect”). Between 10 and 60°C the system gradually changes from one dominated by “occlusion” to one where the “matrix effect” determines the kinetic behavior. The conclusion based on kinetic data is in agreement with results obtained from studies of the postpolymerization in these various systems.     

Kinetic study of early stages of heterophase polymerization of vinyl chloride initiated by radiation

The kinetics of the radiation-induced bulk polymerization of vinyl chloride in the early stages was determined in the temperature range of ?30 to 50°C and dose rates varying from 0.6 to 17 rad/sec by the dilatometric method. Some runs of polymerization of vinyl chloride added with different percentages of tetrahydrofuran were also carried out. The results were found to agree with those previously obtained with polymerizations carried out to high conversions. The results are discussed on the assumption of a decrease in the extent of swelling of the polymer by monomer with decreasing polymerization temperature. By comparison with the data of other precipitating polymerization systems the possibility of a generalized interpretation for the heterophase polymerization is examined.     

Non-ideal kinetics in vinyl polymerization: Note on primary radical termination in benzoyl peroxide initiated polymerization of vinyl chloride in dichloroethane

The kinetics of vinyl chloride polymerization initiated by benzoyl peroxide doubly labelled with ¹⁴C and 'H were studied in 1,2-dichloroethane solution at 60°. The importance of primary radical termination in the polymerization is examined by kinetic analysis and by analysis of polymers for combined initiator fragments.     

Kinetics of styrene polymerization at ultrahigh conversion

The radical-initiated bulk polymerization of styrene at low conversion can be adequately described by a simple kinetic scheme that involves initiation by the decomposition of a radical initiator, propagation, and termination by combination of polystyryl radicals. An integrated equation can be derived that will describe the relationship between monomer concentration and time. We have investigated the validity of applying equations of this kind in the 98–99.999% conversion range. From our experimental work we conclude that the initial rates at 130°C, when starting the polymerization at that temperature at more than 98% conversion, can be described by an integrated equation over at least two decades of monomer concentration. Deviations from the simple kinetics at ultrahigh conversion were observed after a certain time at 130°C. These are discussed and explained in terms of the kinetic assumptions made and an extended model is suggested to allow for depolymerization reactions that cannot be neglected at ultrahigh conversion.     

Mechanism of vinyl chloride polymerization

An overall mechanistic scheme for the suspension polymerization of vinyl chloride is presented. The process can be resolved into five discrete stages, each of which presents a unique environment for the interaction of the systems parameters. It is shown that the surface area of the polymer formed during the reaction is not a major factor in autoacceleration and that the increase of kinetic chain length with conversion is due to a radical dilution effect. The latter is a direct result of the difference in rates between polymerization and radical formation, the former being greater. The increase of the initial polymerization rate and the reduction of autoacceleration brought about by chain transfer agents can be explained by the lower diffusion rate and greater bulkiness of the chain transfer agent radical relative to that of the monomer radical. The chaintransfer agent CBr₄ is preferentially absorbed by PVC from solution in vinyl chloride. With lauryl peroxide as initiator it is shown that the “hot spot” is the result of a build-up of initiator in the monomer caused by its exclusion from the polymer phase. Vinyl chloride was found to dissolve 0.03% PVC at ambient temperature and to have no effect on the decomposition rate of lauryl peroxide.     

Radiation-Induced Heterophase Polymerization of Vinyl Chloride: Influence of Additives on the Particle Morphology

Investigations were carried out on the particle morphology of polyvinyl chloride) obtained in quiescent conditions in the early stages of radiation-induced bulk polymerization at 50°C and 70°C of vinyl chloride with methanol added in small     

Suspension polymerization of vinyl chloride initiated by in situ generated diisobutyryl peroxide

It was found that diacyl peroxides can be formed in situ in a polymerization medium by the reaction of an acid anhydride with hydrogen peroxide. For the specific application to aqueous vinyl chloride polymerization, an initiator system based on the base-catalyzed reaction of isobutyric anhydride with hydrogen peroxide to produce diisobutyryl peroxide gave very good results. In contrast, the acid chloride was completely ineffective as a peroxide precursor in this reaction. Studies pointing to diisobutyryl peroxide as the initiating species; investigations of reactant stoichiometry; and comparison of the in situ system with preformed diisobutyryl peroxide were conducted. It was shown that this system makes possible the polymerization of vinyl chloride at 30°C at rates comparable to those obtained with dialkyl peroxydicarbonates at 50°C, thus demonstrating the ability of this system to initiate vinyl chloride polymerization at low temperature. The rates of vinyl chloride polymerization with the use of different concentrations of in situ diisobutyryl peroxide at 30, 40, and 50°C were determined. Similarly, polymerization rates with the use of combinations of in situ diisobutyryl peroxide and n-propyl peroxydicarbonate were determined. The data obtained demonstrate rapid initiation of the polymerization reaction and a reduction in polymerization time made possible by this dual initiator system. These results were verified in pilot-plant and commercial-scale PVC polymerizations.     

Analysis of DSC curve of dodecyl methacrylate polymerization by two-peak deconvolution method

Free radical polymerization of n-dodecyl methacrylate (DDMA) in bulk has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Autoacceleration of reaction was observed at the temperatures 70, 80, and 90 °C, with 0.25, 0.5, and 1 wt% of initiator, and was absent at 100 °C. DSC curves obtained at the temperatures below 100 °C were characterized by two maxima. Two-peak deconvolution was used to separate DSC curve into two constitutive unimodal curves, i.e., to calculate the contribution of polydodecyl methacrylate formed before (first maximum) and after (second maximum) the onset of autoacceleration. The share of second maximum decreases as the polymerization temperature and initiator concentration are increased. As the organization of monomer is known to decrease with increasing temperature, it can be expected that the fraction of polymerized disordered phase of monomer (first maximum in DSC curve) is the highest at 90 °C. Our results confirm this prediction and are in good agreement with those observed from conversion versus time curves of DDMA polymerization.     

γ-Ray-induced polymerization of α-haloacrylic acids

The γ-ray induced polymerizations of α-chloroacrylic acid, mp 66°C, and α-bromo-acrylic acid, mp 72°C, were investigated in the temperature range from 35°C to 85°C. An analysis of polymerization kinetics was made, and results were similar to those reported in the literature for other vinyl monomers. On heating of the polymer obtained, elimination of hydrogen halide takes place, and intramolecular lactone formation is observed. The rate of lactone formation of poly(α-chloroacrylic acid) obtained in the solid-state polymerization was found to be higher than that in the liquid state, because a highly isotactic configuration of polymers, tends to be formed in the solid-state polymerization, and elimination of hydrogen chloride is facilitated with an isotactic 5₂ helix structure.     

Kinetics of radiation-induced bulk polymerization of vinyl chloride in the temperature range of −50 to 90°c

Kinetic investigations on the bulk polymerization of vinyl chloride initiated by exposure to ⁶⁰Co γ-rays were carried out in the temperature range of ?50 to 90°C at dose rates varying from 0.15 to 50 rad/c. Some polymerization runs were also carried out in a centrifugal field. As generally reported for this polymerization system, in which the polymer is insoluble in the monomer, the polymerization rate was found to change as a function of the amount of the polymer formed in a special fashion. This particular function has been shown to be greatly influenced by the polymerization temperature and to be independent of the rate of initiation, or, more rigorously, of the dose rate. Thus, at any given temperature the equation of the polymerization conversion rate could be written in the form of the product of two separate functions, one for the polymerization conversion and the other for the dose rate. While for the latter the results gave an essentially square-root dependence on dose rate as is normally found for homogeneous polymerization, the former has been discussed in the terms of recently advanced kinetic schemes, based on a two-phase polymerization model. The kinetic parameters found in this work are in agreement with previous authors' data.     

Radical block polymerization of vinyl chloride. II. Synthesis and characterization of vinyl chloride block copolymers

Peroxidized polypropylene has been used as a heterofunctional initiator for a two-step emulsion polymerization of a vinyl monomer (M₁) and vinyl chloride with the production of vinyl chloride block copolymers. Styrene, methyl-, and n-butyl methacrylate and methyl-, ethyl-, n-butyl-, and 2-ethyl-hexyl acrylate have been used as M₁ and polymerized at 30–40°C. In the second step vinyl chloride was polymerized at 50°C. The range of chemical composition of the block copolymers depends on the rate of the first-step polymerization of M₁ and the duration of the second step; e.g., with 2-ethyl-hexyl acrylate block copolymers could be obtained with a vinyl chloride content of 25–90%. The block copolymers have been submitted to precipitation fractionation and GPC analysis. Noteworthy is the absence of any significant amount of homopolymers, as well as poly(M₁)n as PVC. The absence of homo-PVC was interpreted by an intra- and intermolecular tertiary hydrogen atom transfer from polypropylene residue to growing PVC sequences. The presence of saturated end groups on the PVC chains is responsible for the improved thermal stability of these block polymers, as well as their low rate of dehydrochlorination (180°C). Molecular aggregation in solution has been shown by molecular weight determination in benzene and tetrahydrofuran.     

Ring-opening polymerization of 1,5-dioxepan-2-one initiated by a cyclic tin–alkoxide initiator in different solvents

Ring-opening polymerization of 1,5-dioxepan-2-one initiated by 1,1,6,6-tetra-n-butyl-1,6-distanna-2,5,7,10-tetraoxacyclodecane was carried out in chloroform, dichloromethane, or 1,2-dichloroethane. Effects of reaction temperature, solvent, and monomer-to-initiator ratio were investigated. Polymerization kinetics showed a first-order dependence on the monomer for polymerization in chloroform and dichloromethane at 40°C. The kinetic order with respect to the initiator were a first order when dichloromethane was used as the solvent, the order in initiator changed, depending on the initiator concentration when chloroform was used. A maximum in molecular weight was observed at 40°C when chloroform was used as the solvent. The change of solvent did not markedly alter the polymerization rate or the molecular weight of the polymers prepared, as expected from the coordination insertion mechanism. Depolymerization of the polymers formed was observed when the reaction was allowed to continue after complete monomer conversion in chloroform as reaction medium at 40°C. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3407–3417, 1999     

Cationic polymerization behavior of isobutyl vinyl ether with arenesulfonates as non‐salt‐type latent thermal initiators

Substituted and unsubstituted benzenesulfonic acid cyclohexyl esters (1–7) were synthesized, and their possibility as latent thermal initiators in the cationic polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether (IBVE) was examined to develop novel non‐salt type latent cationic initiators. Thermal decomposition of cyclohexyl p‐nitrobenzenesulfonate (2) in C₆D₆ at 80°C proceeded to exclusively afford cyclohexene as well as p‐nitrobenzenesulfonic acid. Cationic polymerization of IBVE with 1 mol % of an arenesulfonate (1–6) in bulk was carried out at 40–100°C for 12 h. No polymerization took place below 50°C, while the consumption of IBVE depending on both the polymerization temperature and the structure of the arenesulfonates was observed above 60°C. The obtained polyIBVEs showed bimodal GPC curves in several cases, revealing the intervention of two independent propagation species in the polymerization. The cationic polymerization of IBVE with cyclohexyl 2,4,6‐triisopropylbenzenesulfonate (7) at 80°C confirmed the acceleration effect of bulkiness on the polymerization rate. It was concluded that the polymerization was largely dependent on both electronic and steric factors of the aryl groups of the initiators which were directly related to the stability of the sulfonate anions. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 293–301, 1999     

Polymerization of vinyl acetate retarded by 4-methyl-2,6-di-tert-butylphenol: Kinetic and ESR studies

4-Methyl-2,6-di-tert-butylphenol strongly retards the free radical polymerization of vinyl acetate initiated by azobisisobutyronitrile. The chain transfer constant, estimated from rate data, is 0.020 ± 0.004 at 35°C and does not vary significantly with temperature. Molecular weight data lead to transfer constants of 0.023, 0.020, and 0.024 at 35, 45, and 55°C, respectively. A mean kinetic isotope effect of 9.8 ± 1.0 is observed for the phenol deuterated at the OH group, showing that the main attack of poly(vinyl acetate) radicals on the phenol involves hydrogen abstraction from this group. The activation energy for hydrogen abstraction is estimated to be 7.8 kcal/mole, and the rate constant at 50°C is 160 ± 40 1./mole-sec. The stationary concentration of 4-methyl-2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxyl in the polymerization mixture is proportional to the phenol concentration and is independent of the initiator concentration, as shown by electron spin resonance studies. Cross termination of poly(vinyl acetate) and phenoxy radicals occurs to a greater extent than mutual termination of these radicals. The rate constant for cross termination is close to 1 × 10⁸ 1./mole-sec at 50°C; the activation energy for cross termination is 2.9 ± 1.3 kcal/mole.     

Kinetics of bulk polymerization of trimeric phosphonitrilic chloride

The kinetics of the pure bulk polymerization of trimeric phosphonitrilic chloride were investigated in the temperature range 240–255°C. The reaction was found to be secondorder with an activation energy of 57 kcal./mole. Polymerization catalyzed by benzoic acid was first-order, and the reactivities of benzoic acid and sodium benzoate at 235°C. were found to be about similar. The volatile decomposition products for the benzoic acid reaction were identified. Mechanisms are postulated for the catalyzed and uncatalyzed reactions.     

Polymerization of vinyl chloride at reduced monomer accessibility. III. Polymerization kinetics and molecular structure using PVC latex as seed

Vinyl chloride was polymerized at 53–97% of the saturation pressure in a water-suspended system at 55°C with an emulsion PVC latex as seed. A water-soluble initiator was used in various concentrations. The monomer was continuously charged as vapor from a storage vessel kept at lower temperature. Characterization included determination of molecular weight distribution and degree of long-chain branching by gel chromatography and viscometry and by thermal dehydrochlorination. To avoid diffusion control intense agitation was necessary. At a certain conversion, aggregation of primary particles resulted in restricted polymerization rate. Before aggregation, formation of new particles did not occur as the number of particles was high enough to ensure capture of all oligoradicals. The kinetic equation accepted for ordinary emulsion polymerization of vinyl chloride was qualitatively found to be valid after the pressure drop as well. Decreased termination rate may result in increased polymerization rate at reduced monomer concentration, i.e., a gel effect, especially at low particle numbers and high polymer contents. The molecular weight decreased with decreasing monomer concentration. This is in accordance with the new mechanism suggested for chain transfer to monomer starting with occasional head-to-head additions.     

Phase-Transfer catalyzed free-radical polymerization of acrylonitrile

The kinetics of phase-transfer catalyzed free-radical polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) was carried out with water-soluble initiator peroxomonosulphate (PMS) with phase-transfer catalysts (tetrabutylammonium chloride and benzyltributylammonium chloride (TBAC and BTBAC) in tolune/water two-phase systems in the temperature range of 45–55°C at fixed pH (4) and ionic strength. The rates of polymerization (R_p) were evaluated at various values of [PMS], [PTC], and [AN]. It has been observed that the rates of polymerization increase with an increase of [AN], [PMS], and [PTC]. A kinetic scheme has been proposed to account for the experimental observations. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Radiation-induced bulk polymerization of vinyl chloride under centrifugation

Radiation-induced bulk polymerization of vinyl chloride has been carried out under centrifugation at 21°C. The polymerization rate and the molecular weight of the polymer produced were found to remain constant in the low-conversion region and to be equal to the corresponding values that were obtained by extrapolation at zero conversion in normal polymerization. This was at variance with the case of normal polymerization in which both quantities exhibit a continuous increase from the start of the polymerization. Such an increase is to be associated with the presence of large agglomerates, formed through flocculation of initially originated particles, in the liquid monomer phase during the polymerization under quiescent conditions. For the constancy of the kinetic parameters in the polymerization under centrifugation it should be assumed that in the system there remain dispersed only particles not yet flocculated.     

Polymerization of vinyl chloride by alkyllithium compounds

The polymerization of vinyl chloride initiated by alkyllithium compounds was investigated. The effect of temperature, initiator concentration, and monomer concentration on the conversion and the properties of the resulting polymers were studied. The optimum temperature in the investigated range (between ?20°C and +20°C) was +5°C. The conversion is directly proportional to the concentration of both the initiator and the monomer. The molecular weight is inversely proportional to the initiator concentration and directly proportional to the monomer concentration. Under optimum conditions the molecular weight of the polymers is as high as 140,000. These results differ by an order from hitherto published data on the nonradical polymerization of vinyl chloride. The proportion of isotactic and syndiotactic structures resulting from the presence of tert-butyllithium does not differ from that obtained by radical polymerization, but the occurrence of anomalous structures is reduced to a minimum. The stability of the macromolecules is higher. A mechanism of the polymerization is suggested.