Modeling stable free-radical polymerization

A kinetic model has been developed for stable free-radical polymerization (SFRP) processes by using the method of moments. This model predicts monomer conversion, number-average molecular weight, and polydispersity of molecular weight distribution. The effects of the concentrations of initiator, stable radical, and monomer, as well as the rate constants of initiation, propagation, termination, transfer, and the equilibrium constant between active and dormant species, are systematically investigated by using this model. It is shown that the ideal living-radical polymerization having a linear relationship between number-average molecular weight and conversion and a polydispersity close to unity is the result of fast initiation, slow propagation, absence of radical termination, and a high level of dormant species. Increasing stable radical concentration helps to reduce polydispersity but also decreases polymerization rate. Thermal initiation significantly broadens molecular weight distribution. Without the formation of dormant species, the model predicts a conventional free-radical polymerization. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 2692–2704, 1999     

Non-isothermal kinetics of free-radical polymerization of 2,2-dinitro-1-butyl acrylate

The free-radical bulk polymerization of 2,2-dinitro-1-butyl-acrylate (DNBA) in the presence of 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the initiator was investigated by DSC in the non-isothermal mode. Kissinger and Ozawa methods were applied to determine the activation energy (E _a) and the reaction order of free-radical polymerization. The results showed that the temperature of exothermic polymerization peaks increased with increasing the heating rate. The reaction order of non-isothermal polymerization of DNBA in the presence of AIBN is approximately 1. The average activation energy (92.91±1.88 kJ mol ⁻¹) obtained was smaller slightly than the value of E _a=96.82 kJ mol⁻¹ found with the Barrett method.     

Thermal transport and chemical effects of fillers on free-radical frontal polymerization

Frontal polymerization (FP) is a process in which a front propagates in a localized reaction zone, converting monomer into polymer through the coupling of thermal diffusion with the Arrhenius kinetics of an exothermic reaction. Fillers are added to control the rheological properties of the formulation and to enhance the mechanical properties of the product. However, the thermal and chemical effects of these fillers on the front propagation have not been thoroughly explored. Herein we report the thermal and chemical effects of fillers on free-radical frontal polymerization. It was found that fillers with high thermal diffusivities, such as milled carbon fiber and boron nitride increased the front velocity. Despite their high thermal diffusivities, fillers such as aluminum and alumina decreased the front velocity. This is likely due to the radical-scavenging ability of aluminum oxide, which was explored with clay minerals. It was found that the presence of water within clay fillers can also decrease the front velocity. To probe the chemical effects, acid-activated clay minerals were utilized. The results demonstrate that some fillers can increase front velocity through their high thermal diffusivities while others decrease it by acting as radical scavengers.     

Charge transfer complexes as dual thermal/photo initiators for free-radical frontal polymerization

Frontal polymerization is a process in which a localized reaction zone propagates from the coupling of thermal transport and the Arrhenius rate dependence of an exothermic polymerization; monomer is converted into polymer as the front passes through an unstirred medium. Herein we report the first study of charge transfer complexes (CTCs) as photo/thermal initiators for free-radical frontal polymerization. Front velocity was studied as a function of mole ratio between an aromatic amine, such as dimethyl-p-toluidine or dimethylaniline, and an iodonium salt. It was found that the front velocity reached a maximum at a certain mole ratio of amine to iodonium salt. The velocity remained constant upon increasing the ratio of amine to iodonium salt past this critical ratio. Fronts were also studied using N-phenyl glycine as an electron donor, but its utility was limited by low solubility. Lastly, the steric and electronic effects of the iodonium salt and counter anion were explored. It was found that CTCs using iodonium salts with less nucleophilic anions gave higher front velocities. In terms of intrinsic reactivity, the CTC composed of N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine and bis[4-(tert-butyl)phenyl]iodonium tetra(nonafluoro-tert-butoxy)aluminate gave the highest front velocity per molal of iodonium salt.     

Cu powder‐catalyzed single electron transfer‐living radical polymerization of acrylonitrile

Single electron transfer‐living radical polymerization (SET‐LRP) has been used as a new technique for the synthesis of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) catalyzed by Cu(0) powder with carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) as the initiator and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) as the ligand in N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) or mixed solvent. Well‐controlled polymerization has been achieved as evidenced by a linear increase of molecular weight with respect to monomer conversion as well as narrow molecular weight distribution. Kinetics data of the polymerizations at both ambient temperature and elevated temperature demonstrate living/controlled feature. An increase in the concentration of ligand yields a higher monomer conversion within the same time frame and almost no polymerization occurs in the absence of ligand due to the poor disproportionation reaction of Cu(I). The reaction rate exhibits an increase with the increase of the amount of catalyst Cu(0)/HMTA. Better control on the molecular weight distribution has been produced with the addition of CuCl₂. In the presence of more polar solvent water, it is observed that there is a rapid increase in the polymerization rate. The effect of initiator on the polymerization is also preliminarily investigated. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Differential scanning calorimetric study on free-radical polymerization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">gem</Emphasis>-dinitroalkyl acrylates and methacrylate

2,2-dinitropropyl acrylate (DNPA), 2,2-dinitrobutyl acrylate (DNBA) and 2,2-dinitrobutyl methacrylate (DNBMA) were synthesized and the kinetics of their free-radical polymerization in the presence of 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) were investigated by DSC in the non-isothermal mode. The kinetics of the free-radical polymerization as estimated by the Kissinger and Ozawa methods showed that the reaction is disfavoured by increasing steric hindrance around the acrylyl double bond. The rate constants calculated from the activation parameters showed the structural dependency. The polymerization kinetics revealed that the polymerizability of three monomers decreased due to the presence of substituent methyl groups on the acrylyl double bond and 2,2-dinitrobutyl on ester group. Thus, the polymerization tendency increased in the order DNPA>DNBA>DNBMA.     

Kinetic behavior in free-radical polymerization of isomer methacrylic monomers with active functional groups as side substituents

The kinetic behavior of the free-radical polymerization of 2-hydroxy-4-N-methacrylamidobenzoic acid (4-HMA) and 2-hydroxy-5-N-methacrylamidobenzoic acid (5-HMA) in a solution of N,N-dimethylformamide is described. The methacrylic monomers 4-HMA and 5-HMA were isomers in which the phenolic and carboxylic functional groups were in different positions on the side aromatic ring with respect to the methacrylamide group. Semiempirical (AM1 and PM3 treatments) and ab initio (6-31G**) quantum mechanical calculations indicated the existence of intramolecular H-bonding between the phenolic and carboxylic groups. These calculations also indicated a slightly higher reactivity of 4-HMA with respect to 5-HMA under the same experimental conditions as obtained from the frontier orbital interactions between the highest molecular orbital of the monomers and the singly occupied molecular orbital of the radical obtained by the reaction of a methyl radical with the corresponding monomer. Gravimetric study of the free-radical polymerization of 4-HMA and 5-HMA at several temperatures ranging from 50 to 150 °C demonstrated this behavior. The kinetic results obtained and the average molecular weights of the polymers prepared at different temperatures indicated that the monomer 4-HMA had a slightly higher reactivity at low temperatures (50–90 °C), whereas at higher temperatures (120–150 °C), the reactivity of both monomers became similar as a consequence of the “dead-end” radical polymerization. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 4528–4535, 1999     

In situ monitoring of free-radical polymerization by fluorescence quenching of fluorene and reactive derivatives

A new approach for monitoring in situ the progress of an addition polymerization has been developed based on the fluorescence quenching of fluorene. Fluorene is quenched by the enone functionality on acrylates and methacrylates, but is not quenched after the carbon-carbon double bond in this group is broken by incorporation into the polymer backbone. Ethyl (2-fluorenyl)methacrylate was used as a self-quenching comonomer during the 2,2'-pazo bis(2-methylpropionitrile)-initiated free-radical copolymerization of methyl methacrylate at 60°C. The fluorescence intensity increases by 60% up to the onset of the gel effect (defined as the sudden increase in the temperature profile). The system shows sensitivity well into the glassy state, with fluorescence increasing more than two orders of magnitude from the beginning of the reaction. This sensitivity is compared with that of two free-volume-dependent probes, 1,3-bis(1-pyrene)propane and dimethylaminobenzylidenemalononitrile, and to fluorene. The temperature profile of the test-tube-scale reaction was used as an internal reference for characterizing the sensitivity of the probes with respect to the gel effect region. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Quantitative theory of iniferter polymerization. I. Kinetics

On the basis of a rather general scheme of elementary reactions of radical polymerization conducted in the presence of iniferters, kinetic equations have been derived describing this process over the whole range of monomer conversion. Proceeding from thorough analysis of these equations, different regimes of polymerization have been found that differ in values of order with respect to the iniferter and monomer of the initial rate of polymerization. Conditions for kinetic parameters have been formulated whose fulfillment predetermines that radical polymerization occurs according to the iniferter mechanism. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons. Inc.     

SET‐LRP of acrylonitrile catalyzed by tin powder

Sn(0)‐mediated single electron transfer‐living radical polymerization (SET‐LRP) of acrylonitrile (AN) with carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) as initiator and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) as ligand in N, N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) was studied. The polymerization obeyed first order kinetic. The molecular weight of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) increased linearly with monomer conversion and PAN exhibited narrow molecular weight distributions. Increasing the content of Sn(0) resulted in an increase in the molecular weight and the molecular weight distribution. Effects of ligand and initiator were also investigated. The block copolymer PAN‐b‐polymethyl methacrylate with molecular weight at 126,130 and polydispersity at 1.36 was successfully obtained. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Gas-phase polymerization of propylene: Reaction kinetics and molecular weight distribution

Gas-phase polymerizations have been executed at different temperatures, pressures, and hydrogen concentrations using Me₂Si[Ind]₂ZrCl₂ / methylaluminoxane / SiO₂(Pennsylvania Quarts) as a catalyst. The reaction rate curves have been described by a kinetic model, which takes into account the initially increasing polymerization rate. The monomer concentration in the polymer has been calculated with the Flory–Huggins equation. The kinetic parameters have been determined by fitting the reaction rate curves with the model. At high temperatures, pressures, and hydrogen concentrations a runaway on particle scale may occur leading to reduced polymer yields. The molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of the polymer samples could be described by a “two-site model.” At constant temperature the chain-transfer probability of sites 1 and 2 depends only on the hydrogen concentration divided by the monomer concentration. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 500–513, 2001     

The reactivity of 3-methyl- and 5-methyl-1-vinylpyrazoles in free-radical polymerization

3-Methyl-l-vinylpyrazole (M3VP) and 5-methyl-1-vinylpyrazole (M5VP) were isolated as individual substances by vacuum rectification of their mixture (M3VP: M5VP 60 40). For each of them the kinetics of free-radical polymerization in MeOH were measured at low conversions. In both cases the rate of polymerization is proportional to 0.5 order with respect to the initiator (AIBN) concentration. On the other hand, a first order of reaction with respect to monomer concentration is observed only when the latter is relatively low (3M). At higher initial concentrations of monomers the order of reaction becomes less than unity. The overall rate of polymerization for M5VP was higher than for M3VP, whereas the initiation rate remained constant in the whole range of monomer concentrations and did not depend on the exact structure of the monomer. The difference in the rates of polymerization observed for M3VP and M5VP is probably connected with the difference in the key parameterk _p/k _t ^1/2 for each of the two isomers. It is concluded that the correct kinetic information about homo- and co-polymerization of M3VP and M5VP cannot be obtained without their adequate separation.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 413–415, February, 1993.     

Living radical polymerization of acrylonitrile catalyzed by copper with a high concentration of radical initiator and its application in removal of Ag(I) after modification

In this study, we reported the synthesis of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) via living radical polymerization in N, N‐dimethylformamide using carbon tetrachloride as initiator, copper(II) chloride (CuCl₂)/hexamethylenetetramine as catalyst system, and 2,2‐azobisisobutyronitrile as a high concentration of thermal radical initiator. The polymerization proceeded in controlled/living manner as indicated by first‐order kinetics of the polymerization with respect to the monomer concentration, linear increase of the molecular weight with monomer conversion and narrow polydispersity. Higher polymerization rate and narrower molecular weight distributions were observed with CuCl₂ less than 50 ppm. The rate of polymerization showed a trend of increase along with temperature. The modified PAN containing amidoxime group was used for extraction of Ag(I) ions from aqueous solutions. The adsorption kinetics data indicated that the adsorption process followed pseudo‐second‐order rate model. The isotherm adsorption process could be described by the Freundlich isotherm model. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Fast copper catalyzed living radical polymerization of acrylonitrile utilizing a high concentration of radical initiator

This article first reports a fast and controlled living radical polymerization (LRP) of acrylonitrile, evidenced by 81.3% monomer conversion within 40 min and well‐defined the polymers with a narrow polydispersity index (PDI) range of 1.14?1.38. This was achieved by utilizing azobis(isobutyronitrile) as radical initiator with a high concentration up to 190 mM and CuBr₂ as catalyst with a very low concentration down to 50 ppm. The polymerization displayed typical LRP characteristics, including pseudo first‐order kinetics of polymerization, the linear increase of number‐average molecular weights (MWs), low PDI values. The influence of various experimental components, radical initiator concentration, catalyst concentration, and reaction temperature, on the polymerization reaction and MW as well as PDI has been investigated in detail. ¹H NMR and gel permeation chromatography analyses as well as chain extension reaction confirmed the very high chain‐end functionality of the resultant polymer. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate catalyzed by ion exchange resin immobilized Co(II) hybrid catalyst

Ion exchange resin immobilized Co(II) catalyst with a small amount of soluble CuCl₂/Me₆TREN catalyst was successfully applied to atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in DMF. Using this catalyst, a high conversion of MMA (>90%) was achieved. And poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with predicted molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n = 1.09–1.42) was obtained. The immobilized catalyst can be easily separated from the polymerization system by simple centrifugation after polymerization, resulting in the concentration of transition metal residues in polymer product was as low as 10 ppm. Both main catalytic activity and good controllability over the polymerization were retained by the recycled catalyst without any regeneration process. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1416–1426, 2008     

Styrene polymerization with rare earth catalysts using a magnesium alkyl cocatalyst

A new highly active rare earth coordination catalyst composed of rare earth phosphonate, di-n-butylmagnesium (MgBu), and hexamethyl phosphoramide (HMPA) for the polymerization of styrene has been developed for the first time. High molecular weight polystyrene (M̄_ν = 50–70 × 10⁴) in 100% conversion could be prepared at following conditions: [Nd] = 6–8 × 10⁻⁴ mol/L, [St] = 3.0 mol/L, Mg/Nd = 11, and HMPA/Mg = 1–1.5 (molar ratio). The catalytic activity of this new catalyst is 3530 g PSt/g Nd. Kinetics study shows that the polymerization rate is of first order with respect to both monomer concentration and catalyst concentration, and activation energy of the polymerization is 40.1 kJ/mol. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Kinetic studies of CuBr-PMDETA catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition polymerization

The kinetics for the reaction of diazide (4,4′-biphenyl dibenzyl azide) and diyne (dipropargyl bisphenol A) catalyzed by CuBr-PMDETA (N, N, N′, N″, N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine) was studied in this paper by means of nuclear magnetic resonance spectra (¹H-NMR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). ¹H-NMR was carried out to analyze solution polymerizations under different CuBr-PMDETA ratios in DMSO-d₆. The results showed that CuBr-PMDETA catalytic system was easy to be oxidation under ambient condition. However, different CuBr-PMDETA ratios influenced the catalytic efficiency and the optimal ratios were found in nitrogen gas. DSC was carried out to analyze bulk polymerizations. The results showed that the apparent activation energy (E_α) calculated by Kissinger's method was 69.2 kJ/mol, which was confirmed by Friedman's method. The two tests indicated that the catalyzed polymerization of diazide and diyne was a second order reaction.