Kinetic study of early stages of heterophase polymerization of vinyl chloride initiated by radiation

The kinetics of the radiation-induced bulk polymerization of vinyl chloride in the early stages was determined in the temperature range of ?30 to 50°C and dose rates varying from 0.6 to 17 rad/sec by the dilatometric method. Some runs of polymerization of vinyl chloride added with different percentages of tetrahydrofuran were also carried out. The results were found to agree with those previously obtained with polymerizations carried out to high conversions. The results are discussed on the assumption of a decrease in the extent of swelling of the polymer by monomer with decreasing polymerization temperature. By comparison with the data of other precipitating polymerization systems the possibility of a generalized interpretation for the heterophase polymerization is examined.