| Abstract: | The kinetic behavior of the 60Co-initiated copolymerization at 25°C of styrene with vinyl acetate at 1100 and 2000 rad/hr was studied. As in the case of thermal and photochemical copolymerizations of these monomers, the growing chains are particularly rich in styrene units, and the overall rate is affected by a diluent effect due to the vinyl acetate monomer. However, in the case of the radiation copolymerization, this effect is partially counterbalanced by an increase of the initiation rate with the vinyl acetate concentration; the polymerization rate curve shows a maximum at a vinyl acetate molar fraction of 0.25. This effect is due to the very different free radical yields of these two monomers. The experimental results may be understood on the basis of a kinetic scheme which involves an energy transfer process from the excited vinyl acetate molecules to the styrene monomer and a termination reaction of the growing chains by very short styrene radicals when the mixture is rich in vinyl acetate. |
