Monte Carlo studies of nonstationary polymerization processes. I. Grafting of styrene onto preirradiated cellulose acetate

The molecular weight distribution (MWD) of polystyrene grafted onto 4 Mrad-preirradiated cellulose acetate at 50°C has been calculated on the basis of simulating reaction with several models. A model in which the coupling probability of graft radicals is proportional to the reciprocal of the square root of chain length and the growth rate is dispersed widely around the average value gave a MWD which agreed fairly well with observation. Several factors which affect the MWD of graft chains are also discussed on the basis of simulated reactions.