Sur un “effet de matrice” dans la polymerisation de l'acrylonitrile en masse

The kinetics of the radiation initiated polymerization of acrylonitrile at 20° have been investigated in the presence of a highly divided polyacrylonitrile obtained by polymerizing the crystalline monomer. This polymer catalyses the reaction to a much larger extent than polymer formed at 20°. The analogy between the kinetic features of the polymerizations of acrylic acid and acrylonitrile in bulk leads to extending to this last monomer the assumption of a “matrix effect” in its polymerization. This effect is believed to result from the dipole interaction of the nitrile groups which lead to the formation of a complex in which the double bonds are favourably oriented for the propagation. If the matrix-polymer is produced with a pre-irradiation dose at low temperature exceeding a critical value, inhibition occurs perhaps resulting from the addition of growing chains to the CN double bonds present in the matrix-polymer.