Instationary polymerization technique – an alternative route for the direct determination of the rate constant of chain propagation

Instationary polymerization technique (IPT) is a combination of nonstationary polymerization conditions and the controlled deactivation of all active radicals present in the system by reaction with an inhibitor at a certain time span after initiation. The special features of the resulting molecular weight distribution can be used for the direct determination of k_p in analogy to the pulsed‐laser polymerization (PLP) method. Furthermore, a qualitative information about the prevailing termination mechanism – i.e. disproportionation or combination – is also feasible from the distribution at a first glance.